Deb James

Hello! I'm Oz. As a proud Gen-Xer I'm enjoying my encore career as a backpacker. I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2022 and the Arizona Trail in 2023. I start my SOBO hike of the Continental Divide Trail in 2024. In the off season I enjoy playing video games, and dispensing unsolicited advice to my husband and adult children.

Posts

PCT: Final Exam in the Desert

PCT: Final Exam in the Desert

I stepped off the bus with 13 other hikers in the predawn light. We had all ridden the 4:30 am bus out of Tehachipi. We stood silently by the

Jun 11, 2025 : Deb James
Early Steps and Big Insights on the PCT

Early Steps and Big Insights on the PCT

With photos taken it was time to start hiking away from the terminus. The air was electric with excitement generated from all the hikers that had

May 20, 2025 : Deb James
Return to Oz – PCT 2025

Return to Oz – PCT 2025

Hi all, Oz here. Last year I blogged my journey hiking SOBO on the CDT.  I finished the CDT at the southern terminus on 6 Nov. The CDT was a

May 3, 2025 : Deb James
CDT: Finishing Montana, Finally

CDT: Finishing Montana, Finally

I woke in Lima raring to go.  I had less than 150 miles to the Wyoming border.  The driver who shuttled us back to the trail head regaled

Oct 18, 2024 : Deb James
CDT: Finishing the “S” Through Montana and Idaho

CDT: Finishing the “S” Through Montana and Idaho

The 300 miles of border trail stuck mostly to the Divide which took me to high peaks and rolling meadows. I didn’t hear much about this section

Sep 22, 2024 : Deb James
CDT: Border Hopping and Getting My Trail Legs

CDT: Border Hopping and Getting My Trail Legs

Leaving Chief Joseph Pass the trail begins the bottom part of the “S” it began around Butte. Strange how the Continental Divide turns back on

Sep 3, 2024 : Deb James
CDT:The Anaconda-Pintler: No, it’s not a snake

CDT:The Anaconda-Pintler: No, it’s not a snake

Butte was behind me. The trail was now going northwest which somehow made me think I was going backwards. I had a wonderful zero with the fam at the

Sep 2, 2024 : Deb James
CDT – Red line vs. Blue line vs. Make your own line

CDT – Red line vs. Blue line vs. Make your own line

The six-mile highway walk brought me to the small town of Elliston where I scored one of the four rooms at the Last Chance Motel. Nothing else was

Aug 22, 2024 : Deb James
CDT – The In-Between Places

CDT – The In-Between Places

The CDT is a really long trail so we hikers generally break it down into major geographic milestones. In Montana and Wyoming these would be: Glacier

Aug 22, 2024 : Deb James
CDT – Braving the Bob Marshall Wilderness

CDT – Braving the Bob Marshall Wilderness

Glacier National Park was behind me and I was now in the infamous Bob Marshall Wilderness, “the Bob” for short. I had heard so many stories about the

Aug 15, 2024 : Deb James