8/27 7 miles 35 miles hiked total I wake off and on all night, my dreams mixing with the milky way spinning above me until it's dawn, and I'm heating water for tea and smacking my frozen shoes against each other in an effort to loosen them. . Our first project this morning is to … Continue reading KCHBR day three: it never really doesn’t go

8/26/17 14 miles 28 miles hiked total A mile after breaking camp in the morning we're on the JMT headed north towards Muir Pass. The beautiful John Muir Trail, with its multitudes of hikers, struggling under the weight of their packs in this high thin air. There is water everywhere- this is the biggest snow … Continue reading KCHBR day two: Ionian Basin

8/25 14 miles We're at The Hostel California in Bishop, California, getting our things in order, when two young men wander inside and ask if anyone would be willing to portage some gear twelve miles for them, up and over Bishop pass. They'll be hauling kayaks up for the Kings River, and won't be able … Continue reading Kings Canyon High Basin Route day 1: into the unknown

Hello internet. I just finished thru-hiking a 180-mile loop of the Kings Canyon High Basin Route, and it was incredible. I'm working on those blog posts right now. But in the meantime, I'd like to get something off my chest. I was rescued in a helicopter while hiking the Hayduke trail last year. I did … Continue reading I need to get something off my chest/I was rescued off the Hayduke last year

White Pass to Cascade Locks 148 miles 8/5 to 8/11 Day 23 I sleep until 7:30 a.m. in the glorious bed in the old guesthouse and turn on my phone immediately after waking to finish my blog, staring at the tiny screen in the smoky light from the window. Mary Poppins heads out in search … Continue reading PCT SOBO part 5: buttchafe and euphoria

Snoqualmie Pass to White Pass 99 miles 7/31 to 8/4 Day 18 I have good dreams and good sleep and in the morning Mary Poppins gives me a homemade GF chocolate cookie from her resupply box and I drink hotelroom drip coffee that reminds me of Ajo mornings with No More Deaths and the thermos … Continue reading PCT SOBO WA part 4: heat and smoke

Stevens Pass to Snoqualmie Pass 71 miles 7/26 to 7/30 Day 13  I'm awake at 7 in the Dinsmores bunkhouse and I pull the earplugs from my ears and step outside barefoot in the morning dew. I sort my resupply- the boxes I sent myself are heavy on the lara bars and lara bars, suddenly, … Continue reading PCT SOBO WA Part 3: feelings

7/19/17 to 7/25/17 Rainy Pass to Stevens Pass 127 miles Day 6 I hardly sleep but the hostel bed is so freakin comfortable to just lie in, so who cares. A pillow even. What euphoria! Why can't I appreciate beds this much when I'm not hiking? In regular world a bed just feels... regular. How … Continue reading PCT SOBO WA part 2: alpine meadow flowergarden world

7/14/17 to 7/18/17 Harts Pass to Canada Border to Rainy Pass 91 miles Day 1 I wake at dawn to birdsong in Premila's backyard in Bellingham (dawn comes so early in the north!) and a few hours later, twenty or so of us are packed into two large vans, heading for Harts Pass. Premila is … Continue reading PCT SOBO WA part 1: Despacito

I'm hiking the Washington section of the PCT, southbound! I start in less than a week!!! I'm kind of terrified, mostly afraid that my health will break. I feel like I'm standing on thin ice over a deep, hypothermic lake of chronic illness- the ice is getting thicker, but slowly. However! If I start to … Continue reading Southbound on the PCT in Washington!