We are hikers! My name is Marty, or Trunks, and I am one part of a two-part hiking couple. Brianna and I are SOBO hiking the PCT in 2022 after completing a thru-hike of the Ice Age Trail in 2021, and section hikes of the Manistee & Northern UP NCT areas in 2020. Born and raised in Michigan, I enjoy freshwater fishing and farming when we are not out on the trail. I am an Air Force veteran turned public servant who also winters as a high school wrestling coach. More than anything else, you’ll find me to be a passionate writer who tries not to let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Posts
Methow River to Porcupine Creek
I have a new method for measuring how difficult a climb is. If I stop for a break and I can see my pulse in my eyeballs, that means it’s a very difficult climb.
Oregon Creek to Methow River
It was during the trail magic that I ran into Red Riding Hood again. I asked if her friend that was on the brink of tears and without food had found her. She explained to me that her friend was Josh, on his way to set the fastest unsupported NOBO time,
Hopkins Lake to Oregon Creek
We would later come to find out that the delirious man was just 20 miles away from setting the fastest known time for an unsupported northbound hike of the PCT. Josh was acting crazy because he was in fact crazy from a lack of sleep and general exhaustion.
Rock Pass to Hopkins Lake
This was another Crater Lake moment for us and it too lived up to the hype. It took us 500 miles of hiking, but we finally touched a terminus. You see the pictures and you watch the videos but you never really know if you’ll ever get there. We got there.
Flipping to Mazama, WA
The plan for how to get back up north is a house of cards. Remove any one of the cards at the base and the entire house comes down. Hopefully, this works out.
Lake of the Woods Highway to Callahan Lodge
Huckleberries are more than a widely available PCT fruit, they are the metaphor. Whatever your adventure is, world travel, or local exploration, we are all just making the effort to experience new things or to relive the old.
Snow Lake to Lake of the Woods Highway
Remember that time when you were going to play in the garden but decided to stay inside for some Netflix and Chill instead because it was too hot? That’s what we are doing from 12pm-3pm, “creekside and chill.”
Mazama to Snow Lake
Reaching our home for the night at Snow Lake was emotional. There was a group of 4 tents taking up the prime camping real estate at the time we arrived, forcing us to find an alternative spot to rest our heads. The 16-hour 27-mile day of heat and steep climbs came to an end just minutes before sunset.
Grouse Hill to Mazama
The real event happened millions of years ago when a blue alien spacecraft crashed deep into the earth, creating a crater-like hole. Overtime, snowmelt filled the crater with water, water that now reflects blue spacecraft at the bottom.