Why I’m Hiking Lists
Why Are We Doing This? Why Am I Doing This?
I was almost at the top of a ridge. I picked my way over rocks. The scent of honeysuckle and wildflowers surrounded me, filled my nostrils. Buzz of bees and...
Why I quit my job to hike for six months
A Kid in the Woods I grew up in a small town in Michigan, so our family adventures consisted of summer car-camping trips to the State Park and an annual...
How My 2019 Hike Ended
With my start date tomorrow morning it feels like the appropriate time to share the story of how my first PCT attempt ended. I had initially started the hike Northbound,...
“How Was the Hike?”
The hardest question I faced when I came home from my attempted thru-hike in 2019 was, “How was the hike?” Whether you’ve walked 100 miles or 2,650 miles on the...
The Reason
To put it bluntly, I have had a tough few years. In 2016 I lost my son in an auto accident. He was a single parent of two medically complex...
Why the PCT?
I've been telling people I will be leaving to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this May. I get the usual questions, " Is it safe? Why? Are you crazy?" I...
I’m Honoring My Late Father with My 2022 Thru-Hike—But I’m Quite Sure He Knows This
Who gave you the hiking bug? Most of you were, at some point in your life, brought to the mountains and shown a new world. I was a scrawny blonde...
“Why Would You Want To Do This?”
Boy oh boy have I gotten that question a lot. "How do you feel?" "Are you anxious?" So, Are You? Well, I wasn't until you forced me to think about...
Appalachian Trail: Why Hike?
“The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ~Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher Hiking the Appalachian Trail is equated to moving into the woods. Supposedly, somewhere around
My Why
I remember it distinctly, the moment I knew my 2019 Appalachian Trail thru-hike attempt was over. I spent a week on the couch at my cousin’s after an emergency room...