In September 2025, I’ll be on the Superior Hiking Trail.

And The Trek has asked me to blog about it! In order to give The Trek readers some insight about me, my writing style, and eventually my hiking style, here’s a short history of my evolution from farm to trail.

Farmer Girl

Raising chickens has been a lifelong happiness

Hey all! My name is Misty (real name, no trail name yet) and I hail from the great state of Nebraska. I was born into a family of farmers, and married into a family of farmers. I grew up on the extreme West edge of the state near Wyoming, and moved to the extreme East side for college, and that’s where I currently live. My upbringing on the farm was typical Midwest: crops and livestock. My family grew mostly corn, edible beans such as pintos and Great Northerns, and sugar beets. We also raised chickens and a small herd of cattle, in addition to pigs that I showed at the county fair.

Feeling right at home among the cows on the Colorado Trail

Some of my fondest memories of those wee years were helping my dad irrigate. Western Nebraska has a very dry climate, requiring farmers to water their crops manually. Many modern farmers have center pivots to do that job, but for my family back then that largely meant running water through a series of ditches and canals, and then sending it down the rows of crops via a hand-pumped system of tubes.

Living on a farm meant we spent most of our time outside, no matter the season.

Growing up in the Cornhusker state has taught me a lot of things, none of which are backpacking related. Country living, though, must have instilled in me a love for the outdoors because it’s all I seem to think about!

Photon Girl

I attended college in-state and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. For over 16 years I worked in healthcare (no, not working a tractor). I was a radiation therapist (think cancer treatment). Each day consisted of a scheduled list of patients to treat, and hopefully cure them of, their disease. This line of work was extremely fulfilling, and I felt like I was really helping people. The patients were amazing, and the job was rewarding. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I found myself falling out of love with healthcare.  I just gave it up this past year to really pursue other interests, including my fiercely budding love for backpacking.

Hiker Girl

So, where DID this love for backpacking come from? Well, I have always loved trails. As a kid, if I saw a trail, no matter how faint, I was following it. But, if I really had to put the blame on one incident, it would be the ascent of the Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon. Early in our marriage, my husband and I went on a guided river rafting trip down the Colorado River. At the end of the trip, we had to climb ourselves out of the canyon, while the mules took our gear.  It was the toughest hike I had ever accomplished. No wonder I was hooked. For those who have been there, you know that the Grand Canyon is about as awe-inspiring as it gets.  

Looking back at both the Black Bridge and the Silver Bridge from the Bright Angel Trail

The following year I climbed Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, and the year after that was Half Dome in Yosemite.  With trail beta acquired, and substantial day-hikes mastered, next up in the adventure queue was backpacking.

In 2016, I chose the John Muir Trail as my first thru-hike.

I realize now how naïve and imprudent that was, as I had absolutely no backpacking experience. I had spent the better part of a year researching and buying gear, watching videos, and reading Elizabeth Wenk’s guidebook. My hiking partner and I went from zero to hero on that trail, as there is no better way to learn than to just DO.

The JMT, aka The School of Hard Knocks

I successfully stumbled through that trail though, and I’ve since added the Foothills Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, Colorado Trail (read about my experience on that trail here on The Trek) and Ouachita Trail to my list of completions. I’ve also had fun backpacking on the backcountry trails in Yellowstone, Isle Royale NP, the Superstition Mountains in Arizona, Coyote Gulch in Utah, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and backpacking rim-to-rim in the Grand Canyon.

Half Dome settling in for the night

I prefer the mid-range trails, or LASH-ing the longer trips.

Who knows, perhaps piecing together these shorter trails will be the fundamental building blocks for someday completing a much longer one. The Superior Hiking Trail, or I think I’ll call it SH!T for short, seems like the next reasonable choice in my progression. I’ve always kept a daily journal of my longer trips, and I’m so proud to be chosen to be an official blogger of the SH!T for The Trek next year!