Category: hiking
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Day 1: Campo to Hauser Creek
Miles: 15.4 Cries: 2 Snakes: 0 (1?) Woke up at 330am and laid in bed feeling surges of adrenaline about starting today. I cried a little thinking about how much I wish my mom were able to be there to send me off, that I would so love one of her hugs. Got up, got…
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My Mother and the Pacific Crest Trail
In January of 2015, my mother died of stomach cancer. It took six months from her diagnosis. She spent most of it in a hospital. A month before her diagnosis, but while we knew she was sick, we took a planned road trip for my birthday to Zion National Park. We drove through miles and miles…
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The last of the lazy Sundays – pre-trip, Battleship Mountain, AZ
Today is one of my last “lazy” Sundays before the trail. Three Sunday after this one I will be hiking through the desert barely having scratched the surface of 2600 miles. The last Sunday where I can imagine soreness and stiffness as a temporary condition. Yesterday I hiked Battleship Mountain with three other people who…
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The Point of Suffering – Reavis Falls + Reavis Ranch overnight
This weekend was 25 miles of backpacking in 36 hours. Approximately 5000 feet accumulated elevation gain, 3000 of it in a 2 mile distance. The destination: Reavis Falls and Reavis Ranch in a day with my friend Dominic. Holy crap, what a trip. Our initial plan had been Reavis Ranch, but I’m not sure when…
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14 things I wish I’d known before my first backpacking trip
My first-ever backpacking trip was to Havasu Falls, Arizona, a three-day, two-night trip. I was invited less than a week before the trip, had zero gear, and had only ever hiked 8 (miserable) miles in a day. I gathered all my gear from REI rentals and Amazon and ended up with a pack that I struggled…
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9 tips to make hiking more enjoyable
1. Use your feet/ankles/toes. When hiking uphill, think of the way you get “up” the mountain as coming from your ankles, feet and toes propelling you, rather than your thighs/quads doing all the work. Another way to think of this is: Imagine your back foot pushing you forward rather than your front leg standing you up.…
colleen stinchcombe 