Sometimes everything just falls into place, you know? Like when you’re lying in bed beside your softly snoring boyfriend on a Sunday morning in early spring, scrolling through godknowswhat on your phone for godknowshowlong because the light in the room is gray and cold and you know that outside, it’s gray and cold, too. And then … More New Plans and Old Beginnings
It’s 111 miles to Pie Town from Doc Campbell’s Outpost, the general store in the middle of nowhere New Mexico where we’ve whittled away most of the morning charging our electronics, eating ice cream, washing our socks from the spigot, utilizing the free wifi, and lounging in various states of repose on the porch, on … More The Gila is a Cold Wet Wonderland
Hey y’all! Hope everyone out there in wherever everyone out there may be is doing well. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in, so I figured I’d say hi and give you an update. I’m currently hiking the Continental Divide Trail, a 3,000 some odd mile ribbon of dirt, sand, gravel, pavement and every … More Updates from the Continental Divide Trail
When night falls and I trip over a rock for the third time, we bust out our headlamps and keep going. We’re hiking through a wash, cradled by black canyon walls and a star-lit sky. Now and then, a wall of vegetation rises up in front of us and we climb into the thicket of … More Lowest to Highest Route Day 3 & 4: Fun, Or Something Like It
Everything is right with the world. This, of course, is not true. But staring up from my sleeping bag at a blanket of stars–of black sky smudged milky way white, flanked by friends and the gurgle of water in a nearby spring, it feels like the truest thing there ever was. We wake at dawn. … More Lowest to Highest Route Day 3: If Not For This
Shade becomes more plentiful, up here in the canyon, a few thousand feet above the sea. It’s a welcome respite, but my brain is already scrambled eggs. I set my pack down in the slanted shadows of the canyon wall and wilt onto the sand beside it. Check my map. The spring is still two miles away. Normally, that sounds … More Lowest to Highest Route Day 2 Continued: Stayin’ Alive
Carrot’s alarm wakes me from a deep wonderful sleep (the best I’ve had in a long time!) and the three of us slowly come to life, rustling in our beds on the sand, making morning noises. We sit up in our sleeping bags and turn on our headlamps, shooting little beams of light into the … More Lowest to Highest Route Day 2: Life on Mars
Somehow I manage to find 4,875,342 things to do after I wake up and don’t leave San Francisco until noon (if you’ve ever wondered how I got my trail name, this is a fine example.) No sweat, though, the girls have decided to wait until Tuesday morning to hike out, so there’s no rush. I head … More Lowest to Highest Route Day One: Errands, Road Walks, The Desert is Magic
I’m sitting alone at my parents’ kitchen table, eating a piece of chocolate cake left over from my mom’s birthday party. It’s dark, save for the glow of my laptop screen. Pictures of people doing fun things on Facebook. Job listings. Health insurance application forms. The stuff of existential angst. My phone rings. It’s Carrot. “Tick Tock, … More Lowest to Highest Route: Day Negative One
Pennsylvania is not as bad as they say. “Worst state on the entire Appalachian Trail.” “Pennsylvania sucked.” “The rocks! They kill your feet, your spirit. Ruin everything. They’ll eat you alive.” And what they say isn’t entirely untrue. The trail is rocks for hundreds of miles: sharp rocks, flat rocks, grapefruit sized rocks, rocks like … More When the Trail is a Sea of Rocks Forever: An Ode to Pennsylvania
I Could Drive Forever 