Category: Long Distance Trails

PCT Day 140

Start: 2654.5

Stop: 2655.2

Today’s miles: 0.7

Total PCT miles: 2370.3


WE DID IT!! We touched the Mexican Border!! I want to yell “WE FINISHED” but that isn’t exactly true. Marquis is going to fill in his gap, so he will be completely finished this year. I’m as finished as I’m going to be for this year, now, too! I’ll just have to fill in my couple of gaps next year sometime.. there just isn’t enough time to get them done before I leave for Egypt. So.. what the hell.. IM FINISHED!! Haha


We didn’t sleep that great, because border patrol trucks drove through every hour or so all night. Around 5-6am, huge concrete trucks and the like were also driving though, to get to their construction site nearby. Since we cowboy camped, packing up was a breeze. We packed and walked that mile so quick! I kept my crocs on instead of switching to my real shoes, because why not?


We took a trillion pictures, I’m sure I’ll post most of them to my Facebook, but the two of us posed and laughed like lunatics, and drank our celebratory wine at 7:30 in the morning. I call it a success! While we were there, two men came up in their Tesla. One guy was going out for a shakedown hike to check out his gear. So, we all four stood around chatting and talking all things gear and base weight. He was really nice and so excited about his trip!


We finally walked back to CLEEF, the feeling of being done not really setting in yet for me. We hung around and ate breakfast while we waited for a trail angel, Kathy, to come pick us up. She took us to her house, we showered, did laundry, and drank coffee. She’s incredibly kind for allowing us into her home, smelly and beat up.

Around 1 or so, she drove us to the transit center and we took a bus to San Diego. We were going to eat a quick lunch, but I think they assumed we were homeless at the one restaurant we went to, because no one would come to serve us. Rude. So, Marquis and I left, then said our goodbyes on the street corner. I already miss him.


I took an Uber to the airport and I’m sitting in the Delta SkyLounge waiting for my flight to LAX. My plan is to fly to LA, then to Orlando. I arrive in Orlando tomorrow morning and will get my rental car-then spend the weekend in a cute town nearby for my sister Michele’s wedding-which is Sunday. On Monday morning I’ll drive back to Orlando, fly back to LAX-since I had already purchased the flight forever ago.


I’ll spend 2 days in LA exploring, then 2 days with Andrea in Reno. I’ll get my stuff I’ve left and I’ve sent to her house, she and I will get all of our Egypt stuff worked out: clothes and flight details and all that-and then I’ll fly home on Friday, 10/20 and show up at my mom’s birthday dinner! She doesn’t realize that I just finished the trail today, and I’m going to hide that fact from her until next Friday when I can surprise her on her big day.

Her actual birthday is Saturday, 10/21-and now that I’m coming in on Friday, I can go with her to the birthday party my grandma is having for her and several of my aunts (they have 4-5 birthdays really close together). I’m super excited to see everyone, it’s been entirely too long since I’ve seen so many of them! I don’t even know who all is coming-but I can’t ask or I’ll risk tipping her off.


Anyway. This is probably my last post until we start our Egypt trip. We leave 10/31-so, it won’t be that long of a gap.. and I’m still super behind on uploading these posts-so it might not be long at all before I get the Egypt ones up! Ha! Let’s pray their WiFi is better than some of the towns on the PCT!


Once I’m back home after the 6 week trip (so December) I’ll go through my PCT budget and give out those details. I’m almost certain I spent more money than I did on the Appalachian Trail. I quit paying attention somewhere in Northern California! But, I’ll get that worked out and let y’all know 😉 For now, the plan is to fill in the gaps I skipped next august-ish, and Andrea might do the Dunsmuir to Etna chunk with me!


Ok. I love y’all. Thanks for following along! I’m sorry if these posts have been simple and straightforward, boring even.. I know they’re not very deep or profound, but sometimes it’s too much to get everything I’m feeling out on “paper” ya know? Please know I appreciate each of you and cannot thank you enough for your support and words of encouragement. It means the absolute world to me and I don’t know that I’d be able to push myself to finish these difficult trips if I didn’t have you to write for-because then I’d feel like I’d be letting y’all down if I let myself quit. So. Sincerely, thank you.

See y’all in Egypt!

T-15 Days

In 15 days I’ll fly to Washington DC and take a train to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. That doesn’t seem like such a big deal. When I follow that statement up with “to start my Appalachian Trail Thru Hike” it sounds a bit strange. For those of you that know me, you know I’ve had dreams of completing the AT for several years now. I know I was talking about it back 2017. I made big strides to pay off credit card debt and save money with the intention to start March of 2020 in your typical NOBO fashion. I’d start at Springer Mountain in Georgia and hike the 2200 miles to Mount Katahdin in Maine. When I think about that now, I just laugh.. I wanted that thru hike last year so bad that sometimes I still tear up over its demise. Everything I planned fell apart with such a quickness I almost didn’t see it happen and it definitely took some time to process the loss of the dream I had been envisioning for so long. However, with all the chaos and uncertainty 2020 brought us, it made me certain of my determination to do the AT as soon as possible.. which brings us to now.

The AT is a continuous footpath that traverses 14 states from Georgia to Maine. The people that choose to complete the train in its entirety within one year are considered “thru hikers.” There are many approaches to thru hiking such a long trail: northbound, southbound, and what we call a “flip flop.” Any way you choose to hike the AT comes with its own benefits and unique challenges. South to North, or NOBO for Northbound is the most common. People set out for the North Georgia Mountains any time from early March through early May and start their walk north to Katahdin. This way seems best to most because its a straight line and you finish in Maine with its gorgeous views and by the glorious victory of reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin before Baxter State Park closes October 15th. On top of all of that, you also get a guaranteed tramily (trail family), because of the amount of people starting at the same time.

Hiking Southbound, or SOBO has its appeal for some, too. Its far less common and seems to be anti climatic for many to end their grueling 2200 miles at Springer Mountain. Views from Katahdin are said to be spectacular, Springer.. not so much. However people starting in Maine and hiking south get to start later in the year, waiting for the snow to melt in the northern states, and they don’t have weather restraints dictating their finish since Georgia’s winters are rather mild.

Now we come to the Flip Flop, which is what I now set out to do in just over 2 weeks 🙂 A flip flop is basically where you start somewhere in the middle, hike one way to the trail end, come back to your starting point and then hike the opposite direction to the finish. It sounds more complicated, and there are more logistical kinks to iron out than the other two options, however, this way does have its perks, too. My plan is to start in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia and hike north to Maine. Once i summit Katahdin, I’ll fly back to Harper’s Ferry and hike south to Springer Mountain, which is only an hour and a half from my house. So, the benefit to me is that I get Mount Katahdin as a great “half way” mark, and then I get to hike home for my finale. The other perks to a flip flop is that by starting in May, I miss the majority of the super cold nights on the trail, and the bad weather that comes with that. I’ll miss the dreaded “Black Fly Season” in New Hampshire and Maine due to the snowmelt and slush that gets the bugs going in early summer, AND to top it all off, which may not seem like a perk to many but 100% is for me this year, I’ll miss the majority of the overcrowding on the trail that happens during March and April (we are in a pandemic after all). So, while it may take more time for me to meet folks and have a tramily, the anxiety I now have in crowds is somewhat eased.

Anyway, I’ll be updating from the trail once I start (assuming i can figure out the wordpress app lol) but until then I’ll be posting my gear list and thoughts leading up to day one. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.. hopefully I’ve set up the comments and subscribe deals correctly.. knowing me, probably not, bare with me folks! haha

Learning Curves & Prep Work

Last night I went over to my best friend, Lauren’s house and her fiancé, Jacob, helped me with this blog of mine. He was able to clean it up, make it easy to read, and get rid of all the random weird stuff that came with the “theme” of the page but wasn’t needed. He also set up the comments and the subscribe option so you can enter your email and be notified when I post. I find it kinda funny that anyone would be interested in reading about my journey, but here we are 🤣 Oh, and another biggie-he secured the site-whatever the hell that means. I really would have thought Xanga and MySpace prepared me better for this. Clearly not..

When I got home, my friend David let me FaceTime him and do a pack shake down. David hiked a big chunk of the AT a couple years ago, and he’s helped guide me tremendously.. with gear choices and motivation. With his help last night I was able shave off 2 pounds! That sounds like nothing, but when you’re carrying it on your back, trust me it’s huge. Haha. I plan to post my official gear list sometime within the next week, as I’m still dialing it all in. Stay tuned 🙂

As far as training goes, I’ve been a pretty busy bee since I’ve gotten home from my last covid crisis contract. I’ve hiked 5,6,8, & 10 mile days all while carrying my pack or Jacob’s weighted vest. The vest was 27lbs, with my camelback on top of it while Lauren and I walked 10 miles on the silver comet trail. The other days were just my pack, weighing in at 24 pounds prior to David’s shakedown. Today I knocked out another 6 miles carrying my pack at 22 pounds, but I added some weight from the vest to it, plus 2 liters of water, so it was around 30lbs total. Honestly, it felt good. I’m so ready to start my thru hike! The people at Kennesaw mountain were looking at me crazy with my big ‘ole pack while they’re just carrying a desani bottle or nothing at all.. lol

Anyway, thanks for following along. The more of you that subscribe will probably cause a feeling of necessity to keep my journals up to date while hiking.. and motivate me to succeed completing the trail. I have a weird sense of unnecessary obligation, and creating this one almost feels like a safety net to push me forward.. to not allow myself to quit out of mental weakness. So, do me a favor.. subscribe already 😉