BIVOUACKED

Every good adventure, hero, invention, seems to have a grand origin story. I would like to say the origin story of Miyagi & Aquarius, a.k.a Lindsey and Dave is just as grand as those of legend, and in some ways it is. But really, it’s a simple boy meets girl…girl rebuffs boy multiple times…boy is persistent…girl gives into boys advances after his backpacking trip story. The key ingredient in this relationship recipe is of course, common ground, and that ground just happened to be an independent gear store in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Bivouac.

He was a graduate and she was a student. Both drawn to the outdoor industry by a passion for adventure and a way to fund their next one.

The Bivouac Boot room was their domain as well as a sanctuary for planning their great escapes. Sometimes they escaped to Pictured Rocks (their first date), and sometimes they escaped to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky to climb. Other times they escaped to West Virginia and rafted the wild white water of the New and Gaully rivers.

Each escape created closer bonds among themselves and the band of friends and fellow employees who joined them on their escapades. Eventually after years of outfitting customers for their grandest of adventures, the couple decided to take a grand adventure themselves and move cross country to the mythical land of Portland, Oregon; in fact joining a few ex-bivouac crew mates already living in the PNW.

After a time the couple grew restless and decided another epic escape was needed…this time they were going for a bucket list item…one that had been written down all those years ago on some random night while working in the Bivouac Boot room. And so a Thruhike plan was born!

But, that magical place they first met all those years ago had one last gift to give, and after 1700 miles into their journey a box arrived. In it, the couple found replacement mattresses; for theirs had been destroyed long ago. They also received new socks and enough snacks to fuel their hiking habits into the next state!

But more important they found words of encouragement from Bivouac staffers new and old…reminding them that any adventure is a shared adventure as long as you have a story to tell! So maybe our origin story really is that grand…but then again it’s not over yet either…the adventure has only just begun!

Thanks for all the trail love Bivouac crew! It meant the world!

Cheers,

~Miyagi & Aquarius!