Hello all, my trail name is Campfire and I will be attempting a southbound thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail. In a little less then a month a friend is driving me the entire 18 hours from Colorado to Glacier National park in his RV. A few days figuring out the whole permit nonsense(pray for good ones) and I’ll be on my way.

Thru-hiking 

My thru-hiking career started in 2021 when I took my first leap of faith with no safety net in sight. I quite my job as a Firefighter/Emt in the city of Flint, Michigan. My first and only big boy job, a job you could call a career, a job your happy to talk about when asked what it is you do. The most time off I could get was around 3 months and I knew that just wasn’t enough. I left to hike the PCT NOBO, March 26th, my Father dropping me off at the terminus after a 3 day cross country road trip. It started to rain as he drove away. Rain on your first day is good luck, I told myself.

PCT 23

In the summer of 2022 I took a job at a boyscout camp outside of Fort Collins, CO on the medical staff. After two whole months of employment it seemed fitting to do another thru-hike.  Since I was already in Colorado, the Colorado trail would do. My uncle drove me to Waterton Canyon and my second thru-hike had begun. Part of me wanted to see if I still had the thru-hiking itch. I did. It rained that night, must be the good luck. 

CT 22

After traveling around the country with my cousin and his family for 6 months in an RV, I felt the call again. The call to hike. Dropping me off at the San Diego Airport I flew to my mom’s in Florida where she so graciously drove me to Amicalola Falls state park, the famous arch, and the start of my 2023 AT thru-hike, also starting in the rain. Luck.

AT 23

After the AT I lived with my cousin again before moving back to Flint and working for a bit. In the summer of 2024, I got the call that they were moving to Colorado in the RV and was welcomed to join if I wanted. I prayed, felt good about it, and moved west.

Pagosa Springs is a trail town on the CDT and come September I was picking up SOBOs and reminiscing of the trail. I got the itch, the call. The timing was right for a SOBO AZT hike. So I prayed and went. Again, it rained on my first day. Luck.

AZT 24

AZT 24

The NOBO’S are Here!

I was eating lunch with a couple friends at Sage (great spicy chicken sandwich) in Pagosa when I noticed three guys walking across the street with snowshoes in hand. They also came to the food truck and ordered. I stared them down. They had the look. These were thru-hikers! 

I went to their table and asked if they were on trail. They were! We chatted about normal hiker things, snow, New Mexico, water. I asked if they needed prayer for anything and Water (his actual last name) said just that we would meet again. You got it.

Later that day, I decided to grab my pack and hike Res Hill for training. 700 some feet of climbing in 3 miles if you double traverse it. Pretty good for right in town. On my way down I spotted hikers under a pavilion and one waved me over. It was the same three hikers I ran into earlier! See, I told Water, God answers prayers. 

Their ride had just canceled on them for tomorrow so I offered to give them a lift as long as they didn’t mind squeezing in a Fiat. They excepted.”Well that answered my prayer,” said Extra Virgin.

Dolphin Sound, Water, Extra Virgin

3 hikers and packs in a Fiat!

I met them at The Root House coffee shop the next morning, squashed them in the Fiat, and headed up the pass. Three hikers all from differnt places bound together with a singular goal, so cool. “We’re back,” they exclaimed as I pulled over. I remember that feeling. The feeling of returning to trail after time spent in town. Back to the grind, back to the simple life, back to the mission…Until the next town….

Soon I too will get to say, “Im back.”

I would never hope for rain for a first day on trail, but if it does, I’ll take the extra luck and grin. Happy Trails and I hope to see ya out there.