Kiley V
Hey all! I'm Kiley and am stoked for my first thru-hike ever in 2025: The Pacific Crest Trail! After working as a park ranger for the National Park Service for the last six years, she is excited for this summer's adventure. From working as a wilderness ranger in Yosemite, to a wildlife technician in North Cascades, and an interpretation ranger in Glacier, she is a naturalist, a lover of public lands, and her favorite place to be is outside (preferably at an alpine lake, with Clark's nutcrackers calling). She is hoping to share everything she can about the landscapes she will be walking through this summer, to help connect people to our earth and have a deeper appreciation for our natural world. Kiley is a lover of landscapes and little moments, of multitudes and wild spaces, of vast openness and the details on a single pinecone, of cliffs that look like they have been painted onto the sky, and of bees buzzing from tiny flower to tiny flower. She is a lover of the wholeness and complexity of this earth, and how each piece of nature plays a critical role in the grand scheme of life. Some of her favorite books are Braiding Sweetgrass, The Sun is a Compass, and Journeys North. Feel free to follow along on my Instagram at @topo.wanders !
Posts
7 Firsts in the First 7 Days
One week on trail, and I can't believe I am here! How to describe it all? So much has happened, this one week has felt long and short all at
My Gear & Prep for the PCT
GEAR: Part 1 It's here! The months (maybe even years) of obsessing over gear is over. After reading The Trek blogs, reading Gear Lab reviews,
A Little About Me & I’m Hiking the PCT!
Hey, I’m Kiley, and I’m hiking the PCT! I'm a lover of landscapes and little moments and try to spend as much time outside as possible, hiking, backpacking, swimming, relaxing, reading, and capturing beauty with my camera when I can! I’m a nature lover/self-proclaimed bird nerd/ mountain freak who feels happiest in the alpine surrounded by whitebark pines and Clark’s nutcrackers (a bird), a crisp lake in sight, with snow dotting the surrounding peaks.