“mental game”
What I Learned After My Hike Changed Everything – Colorado Trail Epilogue
If you followed my Colorado Trail thru-hike, you know it was fraught with challenges. From a suspected UTI that wasn’t to a fall down a snowbank that almost ended my...
Real Talk: The 5 Stages of Post-Trail Grief
So you’ve walked 2,200 miles, given six months of your life to accomplish a goal that few will ever achieve, created an entirely new world for yourself both socially and...
Pre-Trail Depression: A Victim of the New PCT Permitting System
Every morning begins with a sudden shock; a quick snap to a nonstop rapid fire cycle of thoughts surrounding the actualization of my longtime dream of thru-hiking of the Pacific...
Anxiety Ascent: Why I’m off the trail
I wake up in my room, surrounded by four walls and my black cat walking over my down comforter. The air conditioning is cool and my bed is soft. This...
Kicking the Virginia Blues Back to the Deep South
Crossing into Virginia meant three states were behind us, with the highest-mileage state under our boots. I was ecstatic. This was a bittersweet day, though, as not all spring days...
North Carolina: A Not-So-Warm Welcome
I walked around the curving bend that snuck over the side of a mountain to see my AT partner, Lindsey (trail name: Dorothy), waiting for me at the North Carolina...
The AT Lead-up: Shakedowns, Saving Money, and Slaying Trolls
The lead-up to my Appalachian Trail departure is getting real, folks. There's less than three months to go until my date with destiny at Amicalola on March 10. There's...
To Approach or Not to Approach: starting NOBO at Amicalola Falls
''Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.'' -Yoda to Anakin Skywalker Amicalola Falls. The spiritual northbound start of the Appalachian Trail to some, the bane...
Don’t worry, I’m alive!
My first week on the trail, I met a hiker sketching the surrounding scene in a shelter. She was peering off into the gray rain, sitting quietly to herself, and...
Breaking Through the Fear
A surprise encounter leaves a hiker wondering, how do you break through your fear to become a solo hiker?