Thru-Hiking Journal

Day 12 Miles hiked today: 18.6 Total miles hiked on trail: 188.9 Somehow, I was one of the last people to roll out of camp this morning. It was 6:30 a.m., and somehow basically everyone was up and out before I was up. I guess my new sleeping pad has already proven its value; I slept so well and stayed so warm! And I never woke up partially on the ground! I maybe should have replaced my shoes as well. My plan is to get my new ones when Mitch visits next weekend, but the tread

Day 6 Miles hiked today: 21.9 Total miles hiked on trail: 111.0 Unclear how, but that was my best night of sleep on trail so far. I think once the wind subsided in the night, there was no noise from my tent, and therefore nothing keeping me awake. It also was a pretty cold morning, so it was hard to rouse myself from my quilted slumber. I'm waking up with a sore right foot because last night, while walking around camp with my Crocs on, some thorny desert twig on the ground lo

I realize that, as I embark on this journey, many if you may not actually be all that familiar with this hike. Unlike the Appalachian Trail, the birthplace of thru-hiking culture, the most popular U.S. thru-hike, the Continental Divide Trail boasts a less conspicuous reputation. The Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail complete the U.S. Triple Crown of thru-hikes. The former two are well-known and popular, but the CDT is the grungy blac

Today, March 7th, 2024, I cease to be a teacher. Again. The first time this happened was much more unpredictable. I was finishing up my first year of teaching, virtually, in June of 2020, a few months after I had put in my resignation in order to move out of state. Had I waited only 3 weeks to resign, I would have known that moving was no longer an option, and COVID was going to keep me in Ohio a little longer. I found myself working a series of odd jobs to compensate for my

Segment 22: 357.8 - 375.1 (17.3 miles) Segment 23: 375.1 - 391.2 (16.1 miles) Segment 24: 391.2 - 412.1 (21.0 miles) Segment 25: 412.1 - 432.8 (20.7 miles) Segment 26: 432.8 - 443.9 (11.1 miles) Segment 27: 443.9 - 464.7 (20.8 miles) Segment 28: 464.7 - 486.4 (21.7 miles) Day 23 - July 21st Daily miles: 19.1 Official distance covered on trail: 376.9 Segments witnessed: 22, 23 The beginning of today and the end of today may as well have been different days. The morning was com

Almost a full year from my unexpected departure from the Colorado Trail, I am coming back to finish what I started. I want to be able to say that I'm exclusively excited to finish it, especially because this section is supposed to be the most beautiful part of the whole trail and I get to spend the next week doing something I love to do, but I can't say that and be telling the whole truth. Honestly, I'm angry that I have to do this right now. I should have finished this last

Yesterday, July 22nd, was not intended to be my last day. I don't want to get super into it, but last night after dinner, I started feeling incredibly unwell. I knew it wasn't normal, so I called my mom, and she advised me to go to the emergency room. I called another medical professional for a second opinion, and she recommended the same. I'm so glad that I was in a town. I'm so glad that I was staying at a hostel. I'm so glad that the owner -- whose name, coincidentally, is

CW 5: 67.6 - 92.0 (24.4 miles) Segment 15: 253.2 - 267.6 (14.4 miles) Segment 16: 267.6 - 282.3 (14.7 miles) Segment 17: 282.3 - 302.9 (20.6 miles) Segment 18: 302.9 - 316.8 (13.9 miles) Segment 19: 316.8 - 330.4 (13.6 miles) Segment 20: 330.4 - 343.1 (12.7 miles) Segment 21: 343.1 - 357.8 (14.7 miles) Day 17 - July 17th Daily miles: 15.6 Official distance covered on trail: 272.4 Segments witnessed: CW 5, 15, 16 I knew today was going to be hard, but I had no idea it was goin

Segment 10: 156.4 - 169.7 (13.3 miles) Segment 11*: 169.7 - 183.5 (13.8 miles) CW 1: 0.0 - 9.7 (9.7 miles) CW 2: 9.7 - 35.2 (25.5 miles) CW 3: 35.2 - 50.9 (15.7 miles) CW 4: 50.9 - 67.6 (16.7 miles) CW 5: 67.6 - 92.0 (24.4 miles) Day 10 - July 10th Daily miles: 17.0 Official distance covered on trail: 175.2 Segments witnessed: 10, 11 Took me a long time to agree to get out of bed. A warm, dry, elevated, non-deflatable bed. I was awake at 5:30, but waited until about 7:00 to g

The Colorado Trail is divided into 28 distinct segments. Each segment is characterized by its own features and mileage. Each post for the Colorado Trail is going to begin with a list of each segment covered in those days. Segment 1: 0.0 - 16.6 (16.6 miles) Segment 2: 16.6 - 28.2 (11.6 miles) Segment 3: 28.2 - 40.7 (12.5 miles) Segment 4: 40.7 - 57.1 (16.4 miles) Segment 5: 57.1 - 71.7 (14.6 miles) Segment 6: 71.7 - 104.0 (32.3 miles) Segment 7: 104.0 - 117.8 (13.8 miles) Segm

Not to the AT, though. Not yet. In a few days, I will be starting the Colorado Trail, a 486-mile hike from Denver to Durango. People say to allocate 4-6 weeks, so I'm giving myself just over 4, but anticipating around 4. It's wild to me to have a mental framework for what 486 miles feels like. That's not even 1/4 of the Appalachian Trail. That was basically Springer Mountain to Damascus, VA. I wonder if that means the hike will be fun the whole time without being mentally bog

Day 127 - July 5th Daily miles: 15.3 Official distance covered on trail: 2020.2 Finally. Finally we had good weather. Finally we got to see Maine's beauty. Today was such a good day of hiking. We didn't start hiking until just after 10:00, and the hostel provided a great breakfast, so we were rested and fueled when we began. The hiking itself wasn't too hard at any point. We went over a stretch of mountains called the Bigelows, and we were able to take long breaks at several

Day 112 - June 20th Daily miles: 9.3 Official distance covered on trail: 1803.7 WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. Today was the most perfect day. I'm still just buzzing. It started with waking up in a comfortable bed at 6:30 and not immediately having to move. We decided that we were only going to do 9 miles today, so we didn't have to get started particularly early. And then when we got out of bed, it was nice to get out of a bed and not up off the ground. We finally started hiking aroun

Day 98 - June 6th Daily miles: 17.6 Official distance covered on trail: 1541.5 Ok, I concede defeat: I already like my trail runners better than my boots. I am already switching my allegiance for long distance hikes to trail runners. Y'all happy??? The camping rules in Massachusetts are pretty strict, and there are no stealth sites throughout the state (or at least any that are technically allowed; I'm sure some people have made makeshift sites, but you're not supposed to), s

Day 88 - May 27th Daily miles: 23.2 Official distance covered on trail: 1324.6 Spent a lot of last night awake due to some pretty intense thunderstorms. I kept thinking it was the universe cleansing our palette of the past several weeks of just-okayness. New state, new beginnings, right? New Jersey has already proven to be really beautiful. Lots of lakes and ponds and streams, which I love hiking near. The rocks haven't totally died down, but even the really rocky sections we

Day 78 - May 17th Daily miles: 21.3 Official distance covered on trail: 1106.1 Man it feels goooooood to be back on trail! After taking 4 days off in DC to rest, we were all just itching to start hiking again. DC was a lot of fun though! Met all of Wilson's roommates, who were lovely; stayed with my friend Jackson, who was kind enough to let me and Mitch and Scott take over his apartment for a few days; and even saw my college friend Karrie, who just moved to DC for a nursing

Day 63 - May 2nd Daily miles: 20.5 Official distance covered on trail: 884.9 First day in Shenandoah National Park and also first day in my new boots! I have a few small blisters and my arches are sore, but I'm optimistic they'll be broken in soon enough. My last Salomon boots didn't need much time at all, so hopefully these are about the same. Was definitely ready to take them off at the end of the day, though. Since the tread is so new and hasn't worn down yet, I felt my fe

Day 50 - April 19th Daily miles: 12.7 Official distance covered on trail: 669.4 Today was the perfect example of the classic saying, "It's about the journey, not the destination." We'd set out to do 18.5 miles today but let ourselves do fewer so we could spend a good evening together. Girl Scout calls these days "smiles over miles" days. Tomorrow is Problem's 21st birthday, so while we resupplied, we also got a bunch of stuff to adequately celebrate such an occasion. She pref

Day 38 - April 7th (continued) Daily miles: 11.9 Official distance covered on trail: 472.4 Not much else to report on this day. Ate a lot of food. Drank a lot of drinks. Enjoyed the warmth while in town. We stayed at this one restaurant for about 5 hours just enjoying the sun and some good replenishments. We hiked back out to the trail and did a whole half mile to our campsite. Girl Scout has invented a new game for us to play. He found a clothespin at our campsite yesterday,

Day 26 - March 26th Daily miles: 11.0 Official distance covered on trail: 285.9 Hot Springs treated us so well. I would definitely go back! We stayed at the Iron Horse Station, and it was easily the best hotel experience I've ever had. Gary, the owner, was so kind and accommodating and fun to talk to. He's spent time in Ohio and his wife used to teach special education (which is what I do for work, in case you don't know), so we had a lot to chat about! The hotel itself had s