September 6 Mileage: 9 2,412 miles hiked I wake up and it's my birthday. I'm 33. How do I feel? I feel... happy and light. When did this happen, exactly? How did this happen? I don't know. I'll take it! I go to breakfast with Stealthy and Mule at a little cafe. Stealthy was on … Continue reading CDT day 125: birthday yurt!

The Continental Divide Trail is epic and amazing. The Continental Divide Trail is unfinished and needs money. Go to this website and click the button and the CDT will have money!! You can vote every day! CDT grant

September 5 Mileage: 10 2,403 miles hiked I sleep warm at last, my body heat drying my quilt and the rain coming and going, coming and going but me safe inside my tarp. I wake just after six to a dusky sky and the moon hanging above ominous gatherings of clouds. Morning? Or some other … Continue reading CDT day 124: Lake City

September 4 Mileage: 23 2,393 miles hiked The drizzle starts as soon as I wake- I slept until 7 a.m. again but whatever. Fuck it! I'm having a good time, I love Colorado. I don't want the trail to end! Still no gut issues, and every day I feel better physically and emotionally. Hiking solo … Continue reading CDT day 123: back up into the mountains/hypothermia rain

September 3 Mileage: 31 2,370 miles hiked I wake up at six and it's pitch black. Ah, that's why I've been sleeping in. I tear down my tarp and sit in my sleeping bag, drinking tea and watching the forest around me lighten. The sky is pale-grey and overcast, and as I'm packing up it … Continue reading CDT day 122: Cochetopa hills in the rain

September 2 Mileage: 26 2,339 miles hiked Even though I go to bed before ten, I somehow sleep until seven a.m. How is this happening? The sun's been coming up later, and the mornings are cloudy and cold. It's fall, and apparently my body has decided to switch off its summetime dawn alarm. Lazy days, … Continue reading CDT day 121: and then I became one with everything

September 1 Mileage: 11 2,313 miles hiked In the morning I walk back to safeway to resupply, marveling at the warm empty streets of Salida, the closed-up shops with their windows reflecting the early light. There are no breakfast places nearby so I buy gluten-free toaster waffles in addition to all the usual- salami, mayo, … Continue reading CDT day 120: coconut soup, a new friend and some gentle trail

August 31 Mileage: 10 2,302 miles hiked A wind picks up just as I'm falling asleep on the rocky ledge on top of the mountain- woo woo woo! And the yellow moon comes out and it's not quite cold enough, like probably in the morning the grass won't be covered in frost, and I'm wearing … Continue reading CDT day 119: Salida has a soul

August 30 Mileage: 26 2,292 miles hiked It's a good thing this trail is almost over, because I'm running out of ways to talk about hiking. This part of Colorado on the Colorado Trail reminds me of the PCT in the Sierras in a couple ways- above ten thousand feet, lots of steep passes, really … Continue reading CDT day 118: purple ridges and green meadows

August 29 Mileage: 22 2,266 miles hiked Today is not my day. For one, I sleep in super late, cozy in my tarp in the dim cool forest, and don't start hiking until 8:30 a.m. On a long trail, 8 is a very unlucky number- start hiking any time after that and you may as … Continue reading CDT day 117: late starts and fidgety days