Tag: female hiker

Start: 49.6

Stop: 38.3 

Today’s Miles: 11.3

Total CDT miles: 44.3

The wind last night was NUTS! It howled and whipped through our tents so much that I was constantly waiting for my trekking poles to come smashing down on top of me.. but they never did. It was a little unsettling, but probably only because my legs were burning and itching enough to keep me awake regardless of the wind, so I noticed it more. I could even hear it through my ear plugs! Either way, we got up and packed and were on trail by 7:45am. 

Last night before bed, my charging block went from claiming close to 75% battery to turning off completely.. soooo, I’m a little anxious that something is wrong with it. I’ve used this Nitecore on every trip I’ve been on since buying it during my PCT thru hike, and it’s been incredible-but that also means I’ve been charging it in foreign countries, so I’m wondering if the voltage differences in Belgium (the last place I fully charged it) might have zapped it somehow. This is pretty concerning, seeing how I’m a picture taking queen all day long, and now my phone battery has to last all day today and then 4 more days before we get back to Lordsburg. Because of this, I snapped only a couple of pictures and then turned my phone off. 

The morning was fast and flat, sandy trail turning onto dirt roads and letting Pebbles and I just cruise. I snapped a couple of selfies, turned my phone back off, and put it back up. 

When we stopped for a break beside a bush that gave a slight bit of shade-I realized I had lost my phone. I was panicked. I looked around the bushes, seeing if when I set my pack down, the phone flung out.. I checked all my pack pockets-nada-so I started walking back to where I knew I snapped the selfies and kept my eyes peeled for it. Pebbles searching the area we stopped at way more thoroughly than I had, while I maybe walked back a mile or so.. I returned empty handed. Shit. And was turned off, so it’s not like anyone could call it.. 

And then, as I’m about to pick up my pack and I’m running through where to pick up a new phone and all the pictures I lost over the last several days since my back up-plus all of my notes on the trip so far.. Pebbles touches the top of my pack and low and behold-it was rectangular shaped.. I had placed it in the “brain” of my pack, but in my panicked search for it in that pocket, I missed it somehow! Hahaha! All I could do was laugh.

 Now, Pebbles and I agree, I have to find some kind of lanyard case or something to keep my phone better tethered to me (I’ve also dropped it quite a bit too.. so graceful). My friend, Andrea, knows that I’m pretty bad about losing my phone or misplacing it on every trip we’ve ever been on together, except for the time when she lost her phone when she hiked the first week of my PCT thru hike with me. Of all the qualities or traits or habits I can rub off on  others, this one is NOT the one you want! 

High on phone finding happiness, we hiked on. The trail stayed on the dirt road, but it went from flat and cruisy to more of an off-road type situation with gentle climbs in and out of road dips that a jeep driver would love, before turning back into a real trail, surrounded by spiky and pokey things.  

We crossed a main road and found the next water cache. Thankfully it was surrounded by trees, so we decided to rest and eat lunch there in the shade. Fresh water, shade, and a breeze.. what more could you want? I’m starting to get quite over the uncrustables, they filled me up the first couple days, but even as I finished eating two for lunch today, my stomach was still growling. Maybe my marathon training/running has my metabolism higher than it normally is, because usually on thru hikes I’m not hungry the first week or two and it’s a constant game of forcing myself to eat. Not this time.

Pebbles shared some of his zinc mineral sunscreen with me, and it seems to be helping more than my original kind did. My legs don’t look too bad. And the itching has subsided. Even still, after lunch, it was all sun and very hot. The trail was flat again, but it was in and out of old river washes-slap dry now of course. I didn’t mind the washes except for the amount of sand and tiny rocks that magically seem to slip into my shoes. Those little suckers hurt!

Mid afternoon, we got lucky and found a huge droopy tree begging us to rest under it. I actually fell asleep, hard. The wind was blowing, the shade seemed complete, I only woke up when I actually got cold! Insane! The dryness out here makes such a difference. At home in 80 degree weather, you still sweat in the shade, out here, I contemplated pulling out my puffy! 

Groggy and sleep saddled, we started hiking again closer to 5pm. We made it to a big water tank with a spigot (my favorite, next to water caches of course), and hid in its shade while filling up our water bottles. We met 4-5 other hikers over the next hour of sitting there. All of them continued to be confused about our southbound journey, and one couple literally changed their entire demeanor after realizing that I was triple crowning this hike. I feel like I probably look like an amateur with my bigger backpack and chunky frame (can’t wait for the extra weight to fall off! Lol), but I’ve tried their lightweight backpacks on the PCT and hated it-so it’s me and Large Marge against the world, I guess. And either way, I still have complete faith that I’ll make it to Canada. 

Anywho-we ate our dinner in the shade and once the sun started to set, we went off in search of a place to set up camp. It’s windy as hell again, so I think we’re in for another beating from Mother Nature. Pebbles is getting his stretches in, I’m laying here typing this and praying my phone battery makes it. I guess we’ll see! Sleep tight, yall!  

Start: 78.6

Stop: 65.2

Today’s Miles: 13.4

Total CDT miles: 17.4

The stars were gorgeous overnight, and I woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

There were two hikers that passed our tents before we ever got out of our sleeping bags. They must have gotten up really early to hit town today! 

We started packing, slowly, and then got to hiking just after 8am. It was already hot.

We came across another 2 hikers will walking and then 3 more at the water cache. Everyone is so confused about us hiking southbound right now, all of them have asked if we’re section hikers! Haha. Oh well. We hung out and talked at the water cache awhile, swapping trail names and hiking stories. 

Eventually, Marquis and I carried on southbound while everyone else continued north. There were some gentle hills, nothing terrible. Mostly wide open landscape with shrubs and cacti and little lizards scurrying all over the place. 

We basically just went from safe water source to safe water source-there were tons of cows and cow troughs. Pretty gross looking water and loads of floating algae. We took a mid morning pitstop in the shade of a water tank, did some stretching and resting of our legs. Marquis is worried about his tendonitis coming back that caused him to have to separate from Margot and I on the PCT at Crater Lake in 2023, so he’s making sure to do all of the stretches Blaze Physio (a traveling PT for thruhikers) told him to do back then. And I’m all for breaks, so it works for me!

 We hiked a few more miles and then had lunch under a tree. It was glorious with a breeze. I had some Uncrustables and pretzels, which are pretty filling. We stretched again and kept relaxing the feet.. we’re breaking ourselves in easy and trying to not overdo it.. so all of these breaks feel both incredible and like we’re behind all at the same time. But we already booked our shuttle for a specific day, so there’s really no need to rush anywhere. 

After lunch, we walked to the next water tank and sat in its shade for a while, and chugged lots of water. We then went to the next water source-which was a tire surrounded by cows. We must have maneuvered through 75 cows.. to find there wasn’t a spigot, it was just nasty water-with cows literally standing in it and peeing. Eeeek! We just couldn’t do it. We knew there was another one nearby, so we pressed on to it-which was gross with algae but we got it anyway, we’re really relying on these water filters to do their jobs! We packed out 4 liters each and walked another mile to set up camp. 

It’s only 5:45pm and the sun is still blazing. Since we’re easing into it-theres no need to go farther. I did get my first blister on my left heel-I had no blisters during either marathon and here I am after my first full day of hiking with one. And yall, it’s pretty tender. Oh well, such is life I guess. Our tents are set up and we’re going to hang out, stretch some more, and then eat dinner and watch the sunset.. you know, enjoy the simple things in life. Hope yall do, too! Love yall! 

Start: 82.6

Stop: 78.6

Today’s Miles: 4

Total CDT miles: 4

Helllooooooo everybody!

Long time, no update.. but.. Guess what? I started the Continental Divide Trail today!! I know I’ve been horrible at updating this, but, life has been a whirlwind.. so, I guess I’m picking up right here!

I ran the Boston Marathon on April 21st, for the Cam Neely Foundation-in honor of my friend Nancy, who we lost to pancreatic cancer in 2019. I was able to raise over $17,000 for the foundation, and I can honestly say, there is nothing I’ve done that has ever felt as rewarding as raising that much money and then crossing the finish line on Boylston Street, all while feeling Nancy’s love, and the love of all of my family and friends during every step. 

From Boston, mom and I went to London, and on April 27th, I ran that marathon, too! Wild ride, for sure, and I’m praying all of that marathon training is going to help with this hike. I was only back stateside for 3 days before leaving today to fly to Tucson, Arizona. I’m already missing family and friends so much, normally before these huge hikes I have time to catch up and say my farewells, but this one was so rushed, it’s kind of surreal that I’m even sitting here in a tent typing this. 

I was woken up by my mom this morning at 6 something, for her to hug and kiss me bye before she left for work. She has a key to my house and lives right down the street, and I’m so so happy she popped by to do that! Then, my aunt Kathy called at 7 on her way to work to tell me bye too! I’m not sure how I got so lucky. 

My uncle Keith picked me up at 7:30 and took me by my favorite biscuit place for breakfast and then on to the airport, to fly into Tucson, Arizona. I am so grateful to have gotten that time with him, to chit chat and catch up before having to dart off again. I really do wonder why I do this to myself sometimes. Like, I could be home with all the folks I love and not off exploring the world for long periods of time. How can your heart always want to be in two separate places?

Anywho, when I landed in Tucson, I found Marquis, AKA Pebbles, at baggage claim! He’s been planning this hike with me and keeping me somewhat organized during all my chaos prior to the hike. We plan to hike the CDT together, since we both hate snakes (mostly rattlesnakes in New Mexico, but pretty much all over), I’m scared of the grizzly bears in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana.. and he’s leery of the lightening storms on exposed ridge lines known to pop up in Colorado.. soooo, basically the whole trail! 

I think I found a lot of relief going into this one, knowing I wouldn’t be doing it alone and completely on my own. It’s exciting to have a friendship like ours and know that we’ll probably be just fine hiking day in and day out together, since we did it for a good half of the PCT. This hike will be anywhere from 2,700-3,100 miles, so slightly longer than the PCT.. but it’s a trail that has many alternates connecting to it, many with better views, so the mileage all depends on which way you decide to walk. It’ll be interesting to see the total!

The CDT goes from New Mexico at the Mexican border up through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and ending in Glacier National Park in Montana at the Canadian border. Marquis and I plan to go northbound the entire way, except for the first 82 miles. There’s not much at the Mexican border, and it’s a 3 hour-one way trip from the city of Lordsburg, New Mexico. There’s a shuttle a service that takes 6 hikers from Lordsburg to the border every day to start their northbound hike. They pick you up at 6am and drop you off at 9:30am. 

The day we wanted to start was full, so we decided to hike from Lordsburg to the border and then take the shuttle back to Lordsburg at 9:30am since they’ll be there regardless dropping off hikers. We still had to pay for the shuttle ahead of time, as they also provide water caches at 5 different spots along that section of otherwise dry, desert land. So, it’s definitely worth every penny! 

Anyway, my phenomenal friend, Ashley, picked us up from the airport, gave us a mini tour of Tucson (REI and an awesome Mexican restaurant for lunch), and then drove us the 2+ hours to Lordsburg. She’s a saint for doing this for us, to keep us from getting there at midnight on a bus, especially since she JUST moved to Tucson 3 weeks ago!! She’s just now settling into her new home and routine, then I pop up needing a ride to the next state! Thankfully, the desert views are gorgeous and she seemed just as exited as we were for them. 

Ashley got us to the EconoLodge just after 6pm, where their staff graciously allowed us to leave our next resupply box. Then, we drove down about a mile to Veteran’s Park to snap some starting pictures and head on our way to the beginning of our CDT journey. We only went in about 4 miles on the trail, as the sun was starting to set. The views were gorgeous desert sand, with mountains all around in the distance and cacti of varying varieties all over. We also passed some cows at a trough that didn’t look too thrilled to see us. They were cute though!

Setting up my tent took a little longer than normal, and my pack isn’t packed just right yet-always a few growing pains at the beginning-remembering what works and what doesn’t, what goes where.. bla bla. I’ll get the hang of it again soon enough! 

It’s pretty chilly, somewhere in the 40s, and the moon is shining bright. My sleeping quilt is cozy as can be, so I’m thinking it’s time to turn in. Ps: I’m having some issues with my WordPress app-so, things may come very sporadically and very late. Sorry about that! 

Good night everyone.