Being dirty and happy is way better than being clean and happy. It just feels right. Also, it’s hot as balls in Northern California and it’s only supposed to get hotter. So that’s cool. But for now, I’m enjoying a bag of sweaty frosted chocolate mini donuts and a warm Crystal Light raspberry lemonade on … More (Not Very) Deep Thoughts Of The Day
I got off trail on Tuesday to go to a family reunion in Truckee for three days. It hasn’t even been 48 hours and I’m already immensely homesick for the PCT. I miss my trail family. I miss being filthy. I miss the trees and the bugs and sleeping on the ground. I miss burping … More Bed Linens, Silverware, & Other Foreign Objects
It’s almost eight in the morning by the time we finally hike out of Crabtree Meadows to head up and over Forester Pass. We had planned to break camp at sunrise, but Mt. Whitney kicked our asses the day before and the biting cold mountain air made getting out of our warm down sleeping bags … More Forester Pass Kicks My Ass
It’s already warm when I wake up at six a.m. in my sleeping bag on the soft dirt at Hiker Heaven. When I strap my pack to my back at 9:30, the heat is oppressive. “I wish you weren’t leaving in the heat of the day,” Donna Saufley says as she hugs me hard. “I … More Big Kitty Paws (You Keep Me Running)
As week four on the trail is approaching, I’m learning that if it’s not one thing it’s another. I’m also learning that keeping good company can make the worst aches and pains seem inconsequential; that hiking with people who make you laugh–the crying and squealing and almost pissing yourself kind of laugh–are the best people … More Salad Days
I wiggle my head out of my sleeping bag and reach for my phone. It blurts and beeps and hums on the tent floor. 4:45 a.m. “Fuck.” I hit snooze and pull the sleeping bag back over my head. Eight minutes later. The alarm, again. “Fuck.” I turn it off. Roll onto my left side. … More Chocolate Shakes and Rattle Snakes
My temper tantrum/pity party/allergic reaction to the desert could not have come (and gone) at a more opportune moment. I wipe my snot and tears onto the already filthy sleeve of my shirt and trudge the last quarter of a mile down the dusty path to Ziggy and The Bear’s. Ziggy and The Bear are … More Fudge Swirl Mountain: Finding Solace at Ziggy and The Bear’s
I wake up at 6:20 a.m. after a long night of not very much sleep, camped on a soft sliver of dirt beside patches of snow at mile 190.5. All night, the wind roared through the trees and pounded against the walls of my tent. It continues into the morning and I curse as I … More Pity Parties, Temper Tantrums & Desert Allergies
I take a zero (a day of no hiking) in Idyllwild to let my blisters heal and recharge my battery (figuratively and literally). Stay at a quaint inn with Tuck and order pizza with five toppings on it. Drink red wine out of flimsy plastic cups. Eat two kinds of Oreos (double-stuf and birthday cake … More Zero Daze
I wake up at five a.m. in my sleeping bag on Girl Scout’s floor after a night of little sleep and lots of stomach butterfies. Nick (another hiker who stayed over at Girl Scout’s) and I pile our packs in the trunk and the three of us head for the border while the sky is … More And So It Begins
I Could Drive Forever 