One month ago
One month ago today, I woke up 18 miles away from the Southern Terminus of the PCT. The weather was perfect the night before, so I’d slept without the rain fly on my tent. My last cotton candy sunrise of the trail greeted me when I woke up. I...
White Sands, Saguaro, and Death Valley
This early morning post brought to you by a 5:00 am burro alarm clock. White Sands National Monument Along with Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument has also become one of my favorite places. The forecast called for rain, but since a trip to White Sands would only add...
Texas and New Mexico Whirlwind
After a food and board game filled night in Austin, followed by all the breakfast tacos I could fit in my stomach, we headed onward towards Big Bend National Park. The drive between Austin and Big Bend is a long, desolate one. Keeping an eye on the gas gauge...
On the road again
Evan and I started our westbound journey on Sunday morning. We’ve driven across Tennessee and this morning, we had breakfast in small town middle of nowhere, Arkansas, at the Kountry Kitchen Grille. The accents are adorable, people are freakishly nice, everything is so cheap, styrofoam is king and plastic...
Did that really happen?
It’s been nine days since I finished the trail, but it feels like a lifetime ago. Actually, it feels more like my hike was a long, elaborate dream. It feels like it wasn’t real. But the pain in my feet is a reminder that yes, I did actually do...
Last Day on the PCT – Reaching Mexico
Yesterday morning, I woke up to a 5:00 AM alarm for the last time in the foreseeable future. It was to be our last day on the PCT. We were camped about 16 miles from Campo and about 18 miles from the border with about a liter of water...
Cleanliness is next to godliness
My last shower happened about 165 miles ago so for the past few days, I’ve felt like a used trash bag. We’re only a couple of days from the border, but I couldn’t imagine going that much longer feeling so grimy, so we got a motel room in Mount...
Caffeine and Advil
We packed up and left camp at 6:30 this morning so we could make it to the only restaurant in Warner Springs by the time they opened at 8:00. Turns out they’re closed on Wednesdays. Sad face. So now we are sitting outside a gas station waiting for them...
Racing south
We spent our time in Wrightwood with a couple of Trail Angels, Patti and Bob. We stayed with them the night before Halloween. Unlike most years when I spend hours putting together a costume, I had absolutely nothing to wear for Halloween on the trail. I asked Patti if...
2,000 (take two)
Two things I learned when I first made my post a few days ago proclaiming my joy about reaching 2,000 miles: Math has never been a strength of mine, but I’m especially terrible at it when I’ve been hiking for almost 4.5 months. I shouldn’t make early morning posts...