C&O Canal Trek its Finally Time to Kick Up Those Feet!

After 350+ miles the C&O trip has successfully come to its completion. Along the way they explored the great architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright as well as the natural beauty of the Youghiogheny River. Travelling all of the completely off-road Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Tow Path, our group of young adventures has reached its goal of Washington, DC. After a big day of exploring the historic city the group said it’s good-bye’s and departed to find their next adventure. Great Job!

Across America Trek Enjoyed a Day Off in Chicago

"We had a fun time exploring Chicago on Saturday, we split up into groups and walked around the city, checking out the Navy Pier, the Bean, a yo-yo competition, the ferris wheel, Spiderman and some delicious deep dish pizza. We left Kiana's aunt's house after a good night's rest and a tasty breakfast and headed towards Indiana. Jacob has been finding lots of great bike paths for us to go on lately, which makes the riding extra nice" - Julia, Trip Leader

Cape Cod Trek is Having Fun Along the Way

“Today we left the log cabin behind as we rode towards Hyannis, MA. Along the way we stopped for sandwiches, apples, bananas and ice cream. Since then we’ve been talking with country accents, it’s been very funny. Now we are shopping for dinner which will be burritos. Jake the leader is pushing us around the store in the cart for kids which was very fun” – Rachel, Teen Trekker.  

Maine Coast Trek Rides Strong

“Today is our 9^th day, we are sadly just over halfway done with the trip. We left Duck Puddle campground this morning. This was our first day of a really hilly route, we biked only about thirty miles, but it was pretty challenging. It also was a pretty hot day and a little humid. We stopped for lunch at a small local supermarket where we had sandwiches with all kinds of different fixings and we had a watermelon for dessert. It was great! After lunch it was a nice downhill ride. At the bottom of one hill was a massive lake and we all decided to go swimming, which was really nice. We just pulled into the campground and are about to make dinner. Everyone is looking super excited to eat.” – Annika, Trip Leader 

C&O Canal Trek has made it to Washington, DC!

“We're in DC!!!! Having the time of our lives! We first went to the White House, then to the US Capitol and then to The Hotel George, where we stayed the night. In the morning, we went to an all-you-can-eat buffet. We are going to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum then to the Museum of Natural History, then we're going to walk around the mall. See you soon!” --Gustav, Teen Trekker 

Across America Trek Makes it to Chicago

"Today we are having our first rest day since Missoula.  We are on the train now on our way to downtown Chicago. The kids will finally get to explore the city.   Every night we go around and tell each other what we look forward to for later in the trip.  Every night for weeks it has been Chicago chicago Chicago! Yesterday we found a series of bike paths which went on for seventy miles, all the way to Wheaton; a town 25 miles from Chicago.  Kiana's aunt and grandma live there. They very generously opened their home to us, gave us a delicious dinner and breakfast, let us sleep on their comfy beds and air mattresses and gave us suggestions and directions of things to do around the city.  This morning we watched the swimming and cycling in the olympics at their house.  Last night we watched the London opening ceremonies. Tonight, the night of the 28th, we will stay there again and tomorrow we will go on towards South Bend, Buffalo, New York, and everywhere in between."--Jacob, Trip Leader

Maine Coast Trek Lives it up at the Duck Puddle

"We're at Duck Puddle Campground in  Nobleboro, ME where they held an awesome dance party blasting music till after 10:30 and had a huge barn fire. This was after a 40+ mile day that wasn't difficult for this great group of bikers.   We had a picnic lunch of homemade, gourmet wraps and triple stuffed Oreo cookies at a gazebo in Brunswick, ME. For dinner the food committee made a chicken stir fry with vegetables and a Peanut curry. Tomorrow we're heading to Camden, ME and soon to be in Acadia National Park." -- Annika, Trip Leader

Beach Day Again on the Cape Cod Trek

"This morning we went to a diner for brunch and had lots of pancakes and eggs.  Afterwards we went to the beach for most of the day. The waves were a bit rough but a lot of  fun.  One of the Trekker's parents has a house on MV so we were invited for dinner.  They were very generous with a barbecue and dessert as well as use of the house and a nice hammock.  Then we biked back to the campground in a light drizzle.  Now we are sitting in our cabins - a real miniature house!"  -  Eve, Trekker

C&O Canal Trek is Learning and Riding

“Hello, people from the outside world! We are missing our parents very much, and we hope to see them again very soon. We have been staying in an awesome hostel. We had pancakes for breakfast, and we explored Harper's Ferry and the history surrounding it. We learned about John Brown and his influence in the Civil War. We learned that the modern rifle was originated as a musket with grooves inside the barrel, spinning the bullet as it was fired, among tons of other stuff. We feel like we're in school again because we got so much stuff crammed into our heads! We asked lots of questions on the tour guides, and had historic ice cream! Overall, we are having a blast and are looking forward to D.C.” – Gustav, Teen Trekker 

Across America Trek Crosses the Mississippi River!

“We're in Wisconsin! After cruising through Minnesota and Iowa we crossed the Mississippi River yesterday afternoon and went out for dinner in Mount Hope to celebrate our 9th state. Woohoo! We got our 15 minutes of fame in Iowa; someone in the grocery store in St. Ansgar called the newspaper and as we were sitting eating our lunch a reporter came over to take pictures and ask us questions. We spent time exploring the cute little city of Decorah while some bikes were in the shop and we had lunch at their co-op. The scenery for the past few days has mostly been fields of genetically modified corn and soybeans with cows and pig farms here and there, but eastern Iowa had more trees and hills than we had expected. The people we've met have all been incredibly kind and generous and we're far enough east now that people are stunned when we say we started our ride from the Oregon Coast. Today we're riding to Madison and we're excited to swim in Kiana's family's pool and sleep on their floor. All is well here; we send our hellos and good wishes to everyone back home!” -Julia, Trip Leader

Follow the trip

Cape Cod Trek is Making it Look Easy

“We are now in a campground in Martha’s Vineyard. Today was a short easy ride. We were in the shade on a bike path, which helps out a lot. We have great motivation in the morning, and are riding a great pace. Our navigation skills are on the rise. The hardest thing about this group is getting them to stop laughing!” – Jacob, Trip Leader 

C&O Canal Trek Visits Antietam & Harpers Ferry

Today is a very interesting day for the Trekkers. We are biking through the Antietam Civil War Battlefield and learning about the bloodiest single-day battle in American history.  Tonight we will arrive in Harpers Ferry for a 2 day stay. We are REALLY excited to stay in a hostel and have a break from camping.  Keep on trekking! -David, Teen Trekker

Maine Coast Trek Picks Up the Pace

“We are in Wells, ME. We had a great ride with a scenic bike path along the waterfront, which was absolutely gorgeous. Everyone was riding really fast, averaging about 15 miles per hour, pretty impressive. The group is doing really well following bike safety. We of course stopped for ice cream when we saw the opportunity. Now we are at the campsite, Great Day!” – Annika, Trip Leader   

The European Phantom Trek Flies Home from London

After a jam packed first day in London, the group took an easier second day to explore the city.  We checked out the  Natural History Museum and loved the dinosaur exhibit.  The human body and mineral exhibits were also interesting.  Afterwards we had a picnic lunch in the pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery.  The afternoon included visits to the Olympic Stadium and Camden Markets that were both full of people and lots of fun.  The group was sad to say goodbye today.  We had a really fun month and shared a lot of great times.  Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Goodbyes from the New England Shore Trek

It is amid excessive sobs and frequent tissues that I write the last blog of the epically fantastic New England Shore trek. The group sucessfully survived the 5 hour bus ride from Boston to New York City with panniers packed, and bikes dismantled. Arriving in New York City was a homecoming for most of the group as most lived close to the area. We re-assembled our bikes on 34th Street in clear view of the Empire State Building with many people chosing to take a moment from the busy city hustle to stop and watch. After we packed up our bikes it was time to make the slow walk back to Bryant Park where our journey came full circle to its conclusion. Reminding the group at how proud Alicia and I were of all of them, and everything that they had accomplished, certainly lightend the mood. The group was happy to see the parents once again, and perhaps a little more happy to know that they were going to be able to shower and sleep in their own bed for the first time in 16 days- they certainly deserved it! With smiles, we all said our goodbyes and Alicia and I waved each person off to officially stamp the conclusion of one amazing trip, which was made possible by even more amazing trekkers. - Kyle, Trip Leader

"The Tip of the Tail"

Day two of Provincetown exploration. Before heading back into town we decided to check out the Dunes Bike Trail. We rode about 10 miles on the trail, riding past the local airport and between the many sand dunes. By complete accident we stumbled upon an empty amphitheater where I stopped the group so we could partake in an all-inclusive round of improve comedy, much like the show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". After a number of outtakes, two Park Rangers noticed our shenanigans and offered us free ice cream coupons at Ben & Jerry's located in Provincetown BECAUSE we all had helmets for our bikes! (this experience immediatly coined the phrase 'safety can be tasty').  We continued our trail ride (now a little faster because we wanted ice cream in town) to visit a renevated Cape Cod Livesaving Station. These stations were originally placed all along the Cape where "lifesaving crews" would keep watch for ships in distress. The one we vistied was the last of the original 13 Lifesaving Stations on Cape Cod, which was pretty neat. Eventually we made our way into Provincetown where we ate lunch and had free time to explore all the town had to offer. Of course, the first order of business after lunch was cashing in our Free, 'safety can be tasty', couponds for sweet ice cream cones. Pun intended. - Kyle, Trip Leader

European Phantom Trek Does it All

“This morning, we European Phantomers had a quick breakfast at our beautiful hostel on the hill and then hit the town hard for the rest of the day.  We managed to fit in the British Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London, The Tower Bridge (decked out for the Olympics!), London Bridge, the Tate Modern, a delicious Mexican dinner, a music festival in Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament.  Sound impossible?  Yeah, we aren't sure how we did it either.  All we know is that there's still plenty more to see.  Cameras batteries and trekkers alike need recharging though, so the Olympic stadium, the Natural History Museum, and all our other plans will have to wait until tomorrow.” – Sarah, Teen Trekker 

Maine Coast Trek Makes it to New Hampshire!

“It was a very hot day, so we took an easy pace. Our ride had us travelling through the town of Newburyport, MA, which is a super quaint town. Everyone got frozen yogurt, which we were all very excited about. We passed into New Hampshire today. We are staying at a great campground that has a great pool! Tomorrow we are heading into Maine.” --Annika, Trip Leader 

C&O Canal Trek Does More Than Pedal!

“The past days have been cloudy but temperate, with no rain. All of us are having fun as we biked through the 3118 foot long pitch black Paw Paw tunnel, to exploring the area around the 75 locks. Biking along the canal trail isn't just pedaling along thanks to some signs bearing historical Information about the canal and surrounding area. We're all enjoying biking and camping, and looking forward to D.C.” – Tyler, Trip Leader

Cape Cod Trek Sails Out of Boston!

On a beautiful summer day the group met in Boston, MA. They walked their bikes over to the ferry that would take them south to start biking. Before starting the ride they took some time to learn about each other and learn about bike safety. It was an easy and enjoyable first day that took them the 8 miles to the campsite. In possibly a Teen Treks record the group didn’t even make it the 8 miles without stopping for ice cream. (We knew we liked these guys!) A great start to a great adventure.