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

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
Finishing Glacier Park

Finishing Glacier Park

Day 7 - Headed to Looking Glass - 11.5 miles I wasn’t in a hurry to move the next morning. The hard hiking the day before had worn me out but I had

Aug 6, 2024 : Deb James
The CDT – Glacier National Park Addition Part 3

The CDT – Glacier National Park Addition Part 3

Day 6 - Triple Divide Pass, Pitamakin Pass and Two Medicine CG - 24.7 miles I hardly slept that night but by 5:45 am I was hiking south. I

Jul 27, 2024 : Deb James
The CDT – Glacier  National Park Addition – Part 2

The CDT – Glacier National Park Addition – Part 2

Day 4 - 15.3 miles Low whispers and the rustling of tents woke me early. I lay listening to the excited chatter for a few minutes. I was

Jul 17, 2024 : Deb James