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The Journey Begins We are 19 adventurous souls traveling together ranging in age from 17 to 62.  We come from many walks of life, from rural towns and big cities. Some of us are doing this adventure as solo travelers, we have a mother and daughter combination, three married couples and multiple small friend groups. What we all share is a […]

Inca Trail Trek Spring 2019 Great accomplishments generally have their roots in humble beginnings. Today nineteen adventurous individuals from Minnesota, Georgia and Washington State embarked on a trip of a lifetime.  They are in route to the Andes mountains to either hike the famed Inca Trail or to scale a mountain cliff in the Sacred Valley […]

We are 60 kilometers into our trek. Every morning we are up before the sun to beat the heat of the day as we set out on another 20 Kilometer hike. Spirits are high as we complete the third day. We are half way to our destination. Over the course of the next six days […]

Greetings from Pontevedra Spain and the 2018 Portuguese Camino trek to benefit Smile Network! Thank you to all the participants and the donors 30 children will receive life-altering surgeries as a result of the participation of the trekkers and the donors that generously supported their efforts.

We were greeted by a glorious Portuguese sunrise this morning as we began our journey on the Camino. We hiked over 15 kilometers today under partially sunny skies. Thunder and lightning threatened us all day but we stayed ahead of the storm as we walked through the castle towns of Valença, Portugal and Tui, Spain. We completed […]

  We total Ten. Nine outgoing and fast-talking women, and one brave man. We range in age from 47 to 66. We come from Minnesota, Wyoming, Washington and South Carolina. Within the first 24 hours of our arrival into Europe we lost one passport, a brand new Iphone 10, one suitcase, and a pair of […]

A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Our campsite day three. All have arrived to the destination safely.

Yesterday the trekkers accessed the famed Inca trail under sunny skies and a light breeze, the perfect weather conditions for trekking in the Andes. The four-day forecast called for sunshine and more importantly, no rain. All were emotional and apprehensive as they set out. The started the trek at 7,000 feet and trekked eight miles […]

Great accomplishments generally have their roots in humble beginnings. Today nine adventurous individuals from Minnesota and South Dakota started their trek on the Inca Trail. It is estimated that the 26-mile trek through the Andes is made up of over 82,000 steps and 55,000 stairs. They are hiking to create awareness for the plight of […]

Guest blog post by Scott Behmer, Smile Network trekker and volunteer Uziel’s parents are a bit of an unlikely couple, but their shared love for their son was clear. Dads weren’t scarce on registration day, but were far out numbered by moms, aunts and grandmothers. I enjoyed watching Uziel lay in his dad’s arms, looking […]