6/24/18 Mileage: 11 119 miles hiked I sleep well, more unafraid of bears while camping solo than I perhaps have ever been out here. I think I finally understand why people who do this traverse aren't concerned about the grizzlies. It's because of the rivers. Grizzlies are our fuzzy wuzzy best friends compared to these … Continue reading ANWR day 11: East Chandalar

6/23/18 Mileage: 7 108 miles hiked In the morning I work on my blog in my sleeping bag while the rain continues to fall, hoping that it stops; it doesn't seem to want to, though. I make tea in my vestibule and the stove tips over; luckily the stove tips AWAY from my shelter, spilling … Continue reading ANWR day 10: the whole world is either a swamp or a raging river

6/22/18 Mileage: 10 101 miles hiked I sleep wonderfully and wake to the hot sun (my tent was in the shade of the ridge for much of the night but then the sun moved in its circle above us) and go about my morning chores- drinking tea, eating granola in protein powder, pooping in the … Continue reading ANWR day 9: and then there was one

6/21/18 Mileage: 9 91 miles hiked I wake at 5 a.m. because I'm anxious; what if we can't make it across the Sheenjek? What if it's too fast and deep to cross where we reach it and we have to hike ten miles upstream towards its headwaters, then back down the other side? I have … Continue reading ANWR day 8: Sheenjek

6/20/18 Mileage: 12 82 miles hiked I wake in the hot tent at 7:30 a.m. and tear off all my layers. This 2pm sun always seems clearest in the morning. I make tea naked, basking in the warm greenhouse effect of my shelter in the cloudless light. "Wolves!" I hear Bunny say quietely, outside. I … Continue reading ANWR day 7: Bunny’s ankle is f*cked

6/19/18 Mileage: 15 70 miles hiked I sleep amazing in the patter of rain and wake with the most intense pain in the arch of my left foot. Oh, the damage you can do when your feet are numb bricks the first two days of a hike and you wrench them for hours through tussock … Continue reading ANWR day 6: stuck on the wrong side of the river

6/18/18 Mileage: 13 55 miles hiked It's bright sunshine all night and I wake at 6 a.m. feeling suffocated to a hot greenhouse of a shelter and tear off my hat and puffy layer and make tea and the vega protein drank that Muffy gave me- Muffy is sponsored by vega bc she's a hotttt … Continue reading ANWR day 5: Kongakut

6/17/18 Mileage: 13 42 miles hiked It's marginally warmer in the night and the gentle patter of sleet on the tent puts me right out and when I wake in the "morning" (same 2pm light as always) my feet, which are nestled in all the trash compactor bags I stuffed into my footbox, are truly … Continue reading ANWR day 4: foot pain and an enchanted rockslide

6/16/18 Mileage: 12 29 miles hiked It's so cold overnight- I stuff my trash compactor bags and my extra shirt into the footbox of my sleeping bag for more insulation and still, my feet stay icy. I feel like they've been icy for the last 24 hours. I curl into a ball and cinch my … Continue reading ANWR day 3: tussock town, USA

6/15/18 Mileage: 9 17 miles hiked total After the 50 mph winds pass and I get my tent re-staked I pull my hat down and sleep amazingly in the cold 2pm night, waking now and then to smack to sides of my tent to rid them of accumulating ice. I wake in the morning (feels … Continue reading ANWR day 2: the fourth season