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Kerstan Lincoln Ruffer

@bernesemountainseries

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Mom of two young adults & a teenager, a big dog, & a horse! I host professional musicians; the Bernese Mountain Series is my live music project! 🤟🎶🤟

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Big huge news at the Bernese Mountain Series: We picked up our 8 1/2 week old new baby boy Bernese Mountain dog puppy DENALI on Monday!! He’s a total sweetheart! We had been thinking about doing this for quite a while and since Gabriel is a senior in high school we decided now’s the time!! Friends from the music world unexpectedly had a cancellation and offered us this sweet little bundle. Name is DENALI after the highest peak in North America at 20,310 feet. In 2015, kids and I went on a big trip to Alaska and we visited friends in Talkeetna (starting point for Denali climbers) and also Denali National Park. We never saw Denali from the ground as it was always cloudy… yet we saw it from the air above the clouds (next to Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter). Even back then I knew Denali would be such a fitting name for a Bernese Mountain dog of ours. Welcome to our pack Denali (and here’s to Ollie for being SUCH a sweet older brother)! ❤️❤️ by @bernesemountainseries

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14 days ago

Timberline Trail backpacking trip with Gabriel… 42 miles around Mt. Hood!! We started at Timberline Lodge then hiked 5 miles to Paradise Park, 17 miles to Dollar Lake (near Elk Cove), 14 miles to Newton Creek, then 8 miles to Timberline Lodge. Gabriel also added an extra 4 miles above treeline to hike the Cooper Spur Trail to catch more incredible views of Mt. Hood at a higher elevation, and on the final day we both loved hiking through Mt. Hood Meadows after skiing there so many times over the years. All amazing. Thank you thank you @or.msby for sharing your itinerary and loads of Timberline Trail info… and as always thank you thank you @agk9adventures for always being so dang immensely helpful with all the light weight gear info (and we both love our @gossamergear packs & tent)!! Super cool running into you @dropnroll and WeatherDan! 🙌 by @bernesemountainseries

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20 days ago

Weekend in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with all 3 kids!! ❤️❤️❤️ Gray flew from New York, Abby flew from Boston, and Gabriel & I flew from PDX for my nephew’s engagement party in WI! Congratulations Ally & Noah… so so fun being with you and family to celebrate!! 🥳😃🥳 by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

Silas Herman and the Tone Unit came from Nederland, CO to play Bernese Mountain Series # 174, and this show was totally TOTALLY off the charts phenomenal and hands down by FAR one of my absolute favorites. One friend who attends a LOT of Bernese gigs said this was easily in the Top 5, and I agree. These stellar professional musicians are so SO skilled and all of us were blown away!! Silas Herman and the Tone Unit is Silas Herman @silasherman_ on mandolin, Jack Cloonan @jackcloonanmusic on guitar, Sam Armstrong - Zickefoose @banjosamjo on banjo, Carson McHaney @scarfson on fiddle, and Nate Graham @nathantgraham on bass. AMAZING and we’re already looking forward to their return to the PNW & to the Bernese Mountain Series in the future. Happy Birthday Shorty @710shorty and thank you Silas for the Bernese Mountain Series shoutout at Revolution Hall as you’re touring with the Infamous Stringdusters! 🙌 by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

Senior year of high school started TODAY for Gabriel after Senior Sunrise this morning… Let’s go LOHS Class of 2027!! Last two photos are Gabriel’s first day of kindergarten… everyone who told me time flies was sure right! 😭😭 by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

End of summer trip with Gabriel - Part 3 of 3: Madison, WI! We had such a great time on this trip of ours! Then Gabriel flew home while I stayed in Wisconsin for two nights of @horseshoeshandgrenades! No way was I going to be in Wisconsin and NOT coordinate seeing a couple of Horseshoes & Hand Grenades gigs! I had been hearing about Jackpine Jamboree for years & it lived up to the hype… and @sevenacredairyco is SUCH a beautiful spot too. Thank you thank you @adamgreuel @bendingbanjos @harmonicadavey @samualodin & Collin… AMAZING shows!! Such a treat for me to see you guys in your home state! 🙌🪕🎻🎶🙌Super awesome also seeing @jellyfish_joy_glass and my @nolsedu friends @haneyscc & @starbimaging too and also my brother & sister in law! (Hikertrash: My NOLS friend Ryan is where I got Nice One Nice One NICE ONE and also Diggitywig) Home now for the start of LOHS and also @silasherman_ at the Bernese Mountain Series! by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

End of summer trip with Gabriel - Part 2 of 3: New York, NY & NJ then Ann Arbor, MI! The obvious highlight was visiting Gray who is all set in a great apartment in the East Village with a fellow NYU grad student roommate. Gray’s @nyuniversity grad school classes started last week, and Abby started her 3rd year at @bostonu where she’s President of @bumockmediation BU Mock Mediation Club & Competition Team! 🙌 by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

End of summer trip with Gabriel - Part 1 (since LOHS doesn’t start til after Labor Day): Chapel Hill, NC and Washington D.C. & MD & VA! Even the fire trucks are Carolina Blue in Chapel Hill, NC… and we had a great time in Washington D.C. visiting cousins and friends from my early 20s! by @bernesemountainseries

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a month ago

Gray flew from NYC & I flew from PDX & we met in southern CA to visit my mom and brother and a couple of cousins! We especially had a great time at the Sawdust Art Festival where my brother Gregory @mauiimua has an artist booth!! ☀️🌊☀️ After college graduation, Gray went on a New England road trip with a good friend then spent the summer in Middlebury, Vermont at @middleburylanguageschools for Russian and now is close to being fluent in Russian! Once again he LOVED Middlebury. Then he moved to New York and he’s living in an apartment in my favorite neighborhood in all of Manhattan; he’s in the East Village just a few blocks away from where I lived in the 90s! He’s now at NYU @nyuniversity for Slavic Studies… Hooray for Gray!! Here’s to an incredible year at New York University! 💜🤍💟🤍💜 by @bernesemountainseries

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2 months ago

Backpacking trip in the Columbia River Gorge for 3 days with Gabriel!! We hiked up the Eagle Creek Trail with loads of waterfalls (& most notably 172 foot Tunnel Falls), around Wahtum Lake, up Chinidere Mountain, then north on the PCT to the Gorge Trail back to our starting point. This 35 mile loop was super awesome with Gabriel and especially since I had been hearing about the Eagle Creek Trail since my PCT 2000 thru hike! Thank you @agk9adventures Allgood for constantly being my lightweight hiking mentor… You’re right that it’s WAY more preferable to hike with a 20 pound pack instead of a 60 pound pack like I did in the 90s and in 2000! 🎒 by @bernesemountainseries

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2 months ago

Abby and Vicanto spent the last two weeks competing at @thunderbirdshowpark TBird in Langley, B.C. 🇨🇦 and Ollie & I joined them for this past week! We got to see my nephew and family that live in Canada… and it was incredible seeing Abby & Vicanto compete on the grass in the Grand Prix arena. The obvious highlight was their final day of showing which was the 1.35 m Open Classic class. This means that any rider could ride in this class, so Abby was riding with the pros! Out of 19 riders and horses, SIX pairs including Abby & Vicanto got an “All Clear” which means they did the course correctly without knocking down any rails within the allowed time. Out of these six riders that went to the Jump Off for their final round, all of them except for Abby are professional riders… and Abby & Vicanto got 4th and they got to “ride for ribbons” and parade around the Grand Prix arena one final time. CONGRATULATIONS Abby & Vicanto… and thank you thank you @imaginationlanellc for everything! 💜🐴🇨🇦🐴💜 I got home in time for Gillian Welch & David Rawlings & @arkansausage Paul Kowert at Revolution Hall last night which was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen ever! 🎶 by @bernesemountainseries

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2 months ago

Pickathon 2026!! It sure was amazing being back at @pickathon for the time I was able to attend this year, and it was super awesome being with music loving friends and running into loads of friends from the music world and the backpacking world! 🌲🎶🌲 Paul and I saw Harry Potter at the Keller, and I went to a friend’s going away gathering last night. Meanwhile Abby & I have been volunteering at a local women’s shelter and Gabriel & I have been volunteering at several philanthropies this summer… and now we’re keeping our eyes on the fires and the smoke in the PNW & hoping the air will clear soon ish 🌲🏔️🌲 by @bernesemountainseries

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2 months ago