I Could Drive Forever

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 other sort of tread that traverses the spine of America from Mexico to Canada. I set out from the southern terminus in Crazy Cook, New Mexico on May 8 and am less than a week away from the Colorado border. Once I make it there, I’ll take the train up to the Canadian border in Glacier where I’ll meet up with my dear friend Slaughterhouse and we’ll hike south through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado together until she continues hiking and I finish the trail where I left off. Whew! 

In the short time I’ve been out here, this has happened:

 -My mind has been blown by the diverse beauty of New Mexico: ocotillo flowers bursting crimson from spindly stalks like little desert flames, Aspens quaking in the afternoon, mesas striped like layer cake on the horizon. 

-Blisters (so many blisters!), old hip flexor injuries that never go away, a right IT band from hell.

-A reliable water source that wasn’t which left me parched on the side of the highway flagging down motorists for a spare sip of water. This was a first for me. A lesson in humility if there ever was one. 

-Magical glimpses of pronghorn antelope, rattlesnakes, elk, Javelinas, jackrabbits, and horny toads.

-Road walking. So much road walking. Thousands of miles if you ask me. Dirt roads, paved roads, gravel roads, jeep roads, a road by any other name. 

-After hiking through rain, wind, and hail for two days, I was shivering uncontrollably when I stumbled upon a privy in an empty campground. My gear was soaked and I was too. The only sensible option was to lay out my sleeping bag on the outhouse floor and spend the night in my very first privy bivy. A rite of passage, you know?

-Hours upon hours of solitude and loneliness, singing out loud off-key. Talking to trees and trail blazes, walking, walking, walking. Thinking new things, thinking the same thoughts. 

-Walking through cow shit, sitting in cow shit, drinking water steeped in cow shit, sleeeping in cow shit.

-Strangers whose kindness will stay with me forever.

And there you have it! I’ll be blogging more from the trail, although with what regularity I cannot say. This is due to a lack of cell service, laziness, and because this trail is hard. I will, however, be posting photos on Instagram often, and I’d love it if you follow along. 

instagram.com/maulyshore