10/23/21 23 miles In the morning Jessica still wants to bail. I'm bummed. They show me their blisters- on their heel, their instep, on almost every toe! I get it, it makes sense. I don't want them to be miserable. I'm still sad though. I'm going to miss them so much! Today is hard packed … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 9: ripples in the pond

10/22/21 24 miles I wake at four and think "dang why am I awake so early" and next thing I know it's six a.m., night has faded and the sun is rising. We set out on some more dirt roads through ponderosa forest that is slowly transitioning into juniper grasslands, with tidy trails everywhere made … Continue reading Arizona trail day 8: happy and sad 😦

8/20 and 8/21/21 Zero miles and 20 miles A zero day is a day where you hike zero miles. We take one in a motel in Tusayan, cranking the heat, exploding our gear everywhere, dirtying the tub, putting our shoes outside. All I do for an entire day is eat and edit videos and blogs … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 6 and 7: there used to be more

8/19/21 14 miles It's balmy in the canyon, warm enough that I take off my sleeping socks, and not a single mouse runs over my face. Incredible. At one point about ten raindrops fall, and I move everything inside the dripline of my tarp in anticipation, but then the storm has passed. I wake too … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 5: The GC!

10/18/21 24 miles The wind picks up in the night and howls in the tops of the pondies but it can't reach us, down here safe in this aspen grove. I get up to pee and the trees grow white in the moonlight and I get spooked, feeling I can sense an animal nearby. Probably … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 4: cold wind

10/17/21 20 miles I am in so much pain today. It's like every hiking pain I ever have on occasion decided to happen all at once. I'll try and describe it to you- first, my feet are screaming. The tendons are incredibly sore, like they've been punched. The pain in my feet moves around, first … Continue reading AZT day 3: pain cave

10/16/21 20 miles It's cold, in the 20s maybe? But everything is blessedly dry, not a drop of condensation anywhere, and I am cozy and warm and I sleep, dreaming of the moon, which shines on my tent and wake now and then disoriented, not sure where I am. Yellow dawn finds us shivering through … Continue reading Arizona Trail day 2: I love the pondies

10/15/21 Mileage:20 I wake in the pre-dawn darkness in our motel feeling incredible- yesterday started with a 2:45 a.m. flight out of Anchorage, and by the time evening rolled around and I was eating thai food with Matthew, Jessica and CJ in Page, Arizona I was loopy from the long day of travel on one … Continue reading Arizona Trail Day 1: wondrous Kaibab

This week I start a thru-hike of the Arizona Trail! It's been a few years since I've walked a trail this long and straightforward, and I am... very excited. I'm gonna roast in the sun, drink cow water, have a great time. I'll be blogging every day here, posting photos on instagram (@carrotquinn) and also … Continue reading I’m starting the Arizona Trail this week!

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