CDT

I’ve Thru-Hiked Over 8,700 Miles. This Is the Gear I Brought on My 99-Day CDT Thru-Hike

I’ve Thru-Hiked Over 8,700 Miles. This Is the Gear I Brought on My 99-Day CDT Thru-Hike

I've thru-hiked almost 9,000 miles in the last six years, including not just the likes of the North America Triple Crown, but also shorter trips like the Arizona, Wonderland, and...

Oct 19, 2022 : Joseph Gonzalez
CT: A Hailstorm Beats A Shitstorm

CT: A Hailstorm Beats A Shitstorm

There was something magnificent about that storm. Although I was drenched and battered by hail, internally I felt balanced and sturdy. The past 48 hours had been a series of...

Sep 23, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
CDT Days 84-99: Northern Montana

CDT Days 84-99: Northern Montana

Johnson Lake to Helena The Northern Montana section of the CDT began with a 1,200 ft. climb on day 84. It brought us to Warren Lake, which for my money,...

Sep 21, 2022 : Joseph Gonzalez
Colorado Trail: the Delight of Doing Hard Things

Colorado Trail: the Delight of Doing Hard Things

I lay in the dark feeling mad with the urge to crawl out of my own skin. Throughout the night, my limbs would spasm and jolt with unbearable itches. The...

Sep 9, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
Colorado Trail: Salida, I love you.

Colorado Trail: Salida, I love you.

Backpacking is gratifying, intensely introspective, and demanding on many different levels. It is relieving to counterbalance that mode of being with moments of playfulness or outright hedonism. To live, however...

Sep 9, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
Colorado Trail: No Feeling is Final, Just Keep Going.

Colorado Trail: No Feeling is Final, Just Keep Going.

God speaks to each of us as (s)he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words we dimly hear: You, sent out beyond...

Aug 29, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
Colorado Trail: trailmances are like never-ending first dates

Colorado Trail: trailmances are like never-ending first dates

Trails are an exotic and transient world where connections form quickly, burn brightly, and then abruptly extinguish.

Aug 9, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
Colorado Trail: Absolution and Endurance

Colorado Trail: Absolution and Endurance

There is a state—a bodily, mental, and spiritual plane of existence—wherein absolution is achieved in endurance. Awareness tightens in a gyre of relentless focus. Begets a black hole, a pinprick...

Jul 7, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
Colorado Trail: Internal Terrain of Thru-Hiking

Colorado Trail: Internal Terrain of Thru-Hiking

Dark spruces interspersed with slender Aspens adorned with silver, grey, and sage green leaves fluttering in the wind. Columbines appeared in dense patches, swooning softly as though their silken white...

Jun 30, 2022 : Isabella Zenaidah
CDT Days 35-38: Pagosa Springs to Creede Cutoff

CDT Days 35-38: Pagosa Springs to Creede Cutoff

Day 35 16 miles We rolled out of town at 9am, catching a truck back up to Wolf Creek Pass without sticking a thumb out. Loaded down with 5 days...

Jun 16, 2022 : Madeline Gould