Adventures of A+K

08/09/2026

In our opinion, the best way to experience Isle Royale National Park is by camping and backpacking! The park has no roads and very limited lodging, with a lodge and cabins in Rock Harbor, plus some cabins in Windigo. So to experience the park’s inland lakes, ridgeline views, and rugged lakeshore, hiking and hopping between campgrounds is the way to go!

Here’s how to backpack at Isle Royale National Park ⬇️

✈️ The only way to get to the park is by ferry (from MI or MN), seaplane (what we did!), or a private boat.
📍 The common spots to start and end a backpacking adventure are Windigo or Rock Harbor.
🎟️ You will need to get a free wilderness permit upon arrival on the island. There is also a park entrance fee ($7/person per day). Or you can use your America the Beautiful Pass!
🗺️ There are so many different route combinations you could hike, ranging from a one night trip to over a week. We hiked a 50+ mile route along the Greenstone Ridge Trail and Rock Harbor Trail from Windigo to Rock Harbor.
🏕️ The campgrounds have tent sites and/or shelters, depending on the campground itself. We loved the shelters! Rock Harbor and Windigo have access to flushing toilets and potable water, plus laundry and paid showers. But for the wilderness sites you will need to filter water and use pit toilets. Most campgrounds have food storage lockers, which you are required to use, unless you have a bear can.
🍔 You can find supplies and food at both Windigo and Rock Harbor, including propane, which is not allowed on the seaplanes. Ending our trip with a hot meal at the Greenstone Grill was a big highlight!

💻 For more information on camping and backpacking in the park, including our favorite campgrounds, route options, what we would do differently, important items to bring (like allll the bug protection 🦟), head to our camping website, Stoked to Camp! https://stokedtocamp.com/backpacking/

08/02/2026

📸 Scenes from backpacking across Isle Royale National Park with Scho and Jo and Katie And Joe On The Go.

Over 5 days of hiking we tackled 50+ miles, crossing the entire island from Windigo to Rock Harbor. Along the way we experienced the park’s forests, inland lakes, rugged Lake Superior shoreline, and famous wildlife, all while tent camping and staying in the park’s wooden shelters.

But hands down, the best part was experiencing it with our friends. We are so grateful to have friends who are willing to take on a challenge. 💪🏼 Not only was this the longest backpacking trip for all of us, but it was Katie’s first trip EVER and Joey’s first in 20 years! And with carrying 6 days of food and lots of water, plus some very long hiking days, it was quite the grind. We couldn’t be more proud of the entire crew for pushing through during some of the less fun moments. 🩷

To see our full backpacking experience on Isle Royale, check out our latest YouTube video! 🎥

07/26/2026

We backpacked across our 54th US National Park: Isle Royale! Over 5 days of hiking we tackled 50+ miles, crossing the entire island from Windigo to Rock Harbor. Along the way we experienced the park's forests, inland lakes, rugged Lake Superior shoreline, and famous wildlife, all while tent camping and staying in the park's wooden shelters. And the best part? Scho and Jo and Katie And Joe On The Go joined us!

A HUGE thank you to LMNT for sponsoring this video! 🎉 Head to http:...

07/19/2026

Some highlights from summer (so far!) ☀️

Between family visits, local exploring, fun day trips, and bigger adventures, it has been an amazing start to one of our favorite seasons. And we can’t wait for what the rest of summer will bring! Up next we have a bunch of van road trips both in 🇺🇸 and 🇨🇦, a short backpacking trip, and quite a few national park adventures out west! 🙌🏼

07/16/2026

Over the last 14 years, we have visited Maui 3 times together and explored almost every corner of the island.

What we love about Maui is that it offers the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation. Here you can relax at beautiful beaches, visit cute small towns, drive through the lush rainforests on the Road to Hana, snorkel with sea turtles, go whale watching, chase waterfalls, and even hike on a volcano. In one day alone you could go from a sandy beach to 10,023 feet above sea level, which is pretty crazy!

Heading to Maui in the future? Here are our top 10 things to do ⬇️

1️⃣ Drive the Road to Hana. We have a full guide to this drive, with our must-visit stops and top tips, on our website!

2️⃣ Hike the Pipiwai Trail to Waimoku Falls. Located at the end of the Road to Hana in Haleakalā National Park, this hike includes a bamboo forest and multiple waterfalls.

3️⃣ Hike or backpacking inside Haleakalā’s Valley. The Sliding Sand Trail + Halemau’u Trail combo is EPIC!

4️⃣ Enjoy the island’s local eats. Some of our favorites include Joey's Kitchen, Kinaole Food truck 🦐, Velzyland Burger Co., KITOKO MAUI, Leodas Kitchen and Pie Shop, and Tin Roof, Maui.

5️⃣ Walk the Kapalua Coastal Trail! This short walk takes you past different beaches and along the rugged coastline. We saw 6 turtles too!

6️⃣ Eat lots of shave ice. Some of our favorites are Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice, Gushawaiianshaveice (get the shave fruit! SO GOOD!), and Waikomo Shave Ice, Maui.

7️⃣ Go snorkeling! We have done a few snorkeling tours on Maui, but the 5.5 hour tour with Blue Water Rafting is hands down the BEST!

8️⃣ Hike the Waihe’e Ridge Trail! The parking lot is open only from 7 AM to 7 PM (there’s also an overflow lot down the road). This is a steep hike and can be very muddy if it has rained!

9️⃣ Relax at South Maui’s beaches. We love the Kamaole beaches, Keawakapu Beach, and Big Beach.

🔟 Go on a whale watching tour. January-March are usually the best months!

💻 For a full list of our favorite things to do on Maui, based on all of our trips to the island, head to our website! https://adventuresofaplusk.com/best-things-to-do-on-maui/

07/05/2026

For our last adventure on Maui, we spent 36 hours exploring some areas of the island that we had yet to visit on this trip, with the goal of going on an epic hike, seeing beautiful beaches and coastal scenery, snorkeling with colorful fish and sea turtles, and eating lots and lots of delicious local food.

Our final Maui video is now LIVE! 🎥 Head on over to YouTube to give it a watch!

A BIG thank you to Tripadvisor for sponsoring this video! Head to t...

07/03/2026

How to backpack at Haleakalā National Park ⬇️

🗺️ Our route: We parked at the Halemauʻu Trailhead, hitchhiked to the Sliding Sands Trail, and then hiked the Sliding Sands Trail down to the Palikū Campground (~10 miles). The next day, we hiked up the Halemauʻu Trail (~10 miles) to where our car was parked.

⏰ Don’t have enough time for a backpacking trip? You can do part of this route as a day hike! Look up “Keonehe’ehe’e Trail to Halemauu Trail” on AllTrails for the details! (Hitchhiking still required)

🎫 Permit: A wilderness permit IS required, so make sure to get one in advance. From our experience, this was super easy to get...we were the only tent campers at our campsite! If you want to stay at one of the park’s cabins, those reservations get snatched up fast.

😍 Every single second of the hike was full of INSANE views! Along the way you’ll see otherworldly volcanic terrain, rugged peaks, lush rainforest cliffs, the park’s famous silverswords, and so much more!

🏕️ Palikū Campground: This campground is located among stunning green mountains and feels vastly different from the start of the hike! Here you’ll find a cabin, 4 campsites, 1 group campsite, a water spigot, and a pit toilet (which had lots of 🧻 during our visit, but come prepared just in case). The sites were not marked very well and ours was a bit small and slanted, but the views were incredible!

💦 The ONLY water sources on this backpacking trip are at the cabins/campsites. And they rely on rain, so sometimes they dry up. You also need to filter or boil this water. So make sure to bring plenty of water, a water filter, and electrolytes (it’s a very exposed hike). We love LMNT!

👩🏻‍🍳 If you plan to cook food (Bowl & Kettle is our FAV!) you can pick up propane in Kahului at Ace Hardware or Easy Camping Maui.

For more information on how to do this backpacking trip, head to Stoked to Camp for a detailed trail guide. https://stokedtocamp.com/wilderness-camping-haleakala-national-park/

We also have a full YouTube video of the experience!

07/03/2026

It took us 3 attempts (in 12 years) to FINALLY see sunrise at Haleakalā! 🙌🏼☀️

Haleakalā means “House of the Sun” in Hawaiian. According to a Hawaiian legend, the mother of Maui, a Polynesian demigod, expressed that the sun traveled too fast across the sky, not leaving enough daylight to dry a bark cloth she was making. So Maui climbed up Haleakalā and lassoed the sun, capturing it until it agreed to slow down.

But before you head to Haleakalā for sunrise, there is quite a bit to know:
🎟️ Reservations are required between 3 AM-7 AM. These are available 60 days and 2 days in advance.
⏰ Plan to arrive at the summit 60-90 minutes before sunrise. Parking fills fast! You also will want to get a good spot to watch it.
📅 We recommend doing this your first full morning on the island, while you’re still on mainland time.
🥶 It is VERY cold and windy at the top! Make sure to bring layers and blankets.
☁️ You may get fogged out. Which as you can see in this carousel, happened to us the first two times.
📍 While we have always watched the sunrise at the summit, next time we want to watch it from the visitor center area or at the top of the Sliding Sands Trail. While a bit lower, it’s less busy than the summit.
🥾 Stick around afterwards! Pretty much everyone left right when the sun came up. And in our opinion, they missed the best part of the park! After sunrise, hike into the valley on the Sliding Sands Trail or the Halemauʻu Trail. Even if you can only hike a little bit, it’s very worth it to see the volcanic terrain up close.

Can’t get a reservation, prefer to sleep in, or the sunrise weather looks bad? Go for sunset instead! Reservations are not required AND you can wait to see how the weather is before driving up.

Get our full Haleakalā sunrise guide here: https://adventuresofaplusk.com/haleakala-national-park-sunrise/

06/21/2026

Welcome to Haleakalā National Park! Named after Maui’s tallest mountain, which stands at 10,023 feet, this shield volcano makes up around 75% of the entire island’s landmass. And is home to some crazy otherworldly scenery!

It is the first national park we EVER visited (back in 2014!) and we knew we had to come back again, but this time with the goal of exploring it properly. In this video we bring you along as we go on an epic one night backpacking trip in the Haleakalā valley. Plus make our third attempt to see the park's famous sunrise!

A HUGE thank you to LMNT for sponsoring this video! Head to http://...