Do you even Blue Blaze Bro?!! Or are you too much the purist? 😏 This PCT Blue Blaze leads to EPIC campsites below Mt. Hood and one of my favorites of the year. It was rather chilly though! I was dressed in every layer I had which isn’t saying much! - shorts beneath 7D wind pants and a t-shirt under an alpaca hoodie and rain jacket. . . #pacificcresttrail #mounthood #backpacking

Farewell! Last week I quit the PCT. I rented an SUV and am now slowly roadtripping ‘round the country back to my campervan in Pittsburgh. I could have continued on through the smoke and around the closures but my heart wasn’t in it anymore. Plus, the smoke in Oregon really hurt my lungs. I was coughing like hell for weeks (not COVID, fully jabbed and negative) and took two weeks “off” to hike the Oregon Coast Trail and heal. I returned to a snowstorm and, well, c’est la vie!!! Life is beautiful and I’m SOOO grateful for all the time I was able to spend on trail this year. Plus, the adventure’s not over yet. PCT TBC…

Glacier Peak Wilderness is one of the most beautiful stretches of trail along PCT. It’s also the most difficult. With 10’s of thousands of feet of climbing, the trail is overgrown with tons of downfall, especially this early in the season. At least two hikers where rescued by helicopter, I saw the aftermath of “Stiches” injuries on day one and witnessed a heli pluck someone else from Mica Lake. It’s worth every careful step, however! Just pack extra food and be ready to fall off the trail at Milk Creek. I think we all did. Also, watch the creek crossings, especlially early season. They are wild! . #pct #pct2021 #pctsobo #glacierpeakwilderness #pacificcresttrail

The journey begins!!! Pacific Crest Trail SoBo, here we go. See you soon México!!! . First video is live on YouTube: link in description! . . #pct2021 #pacificcresttrail #thruhike

So this happened a few (6 or 7 😅) weeks ago!!! En route to start PCT SOBO now. Might try and post a little more frequently this time around. . Happy trails, hope y’all are well!!! . . #pctsobo #pctsobo2021 #arizonatrail #azt2021

Ask not why the addiction, ask why the pain. I used to love taking photos. I’d snap away for the sheer joy of pressing the shutter; occupying my ADHD hands; capturing moments for memories. And then came Instagram. I’ve listened to a lot of friends complain about the app and algorithm. I’ve complained about and blamed it myself. Then, I heard this quote and insight struck like a bolt of lightening. IG nor anything else has this kind of power over me. Drugs are addicting yet, if we get hooked on them, we don’t blame the substance! It is our pain that is responsible, it is a part of ourselves trying to protect us in rather strange and frustrating ways. I recognize that I’m addicted to my phone and that it was ruining my life; robbing me of time and experience. I’ve dropped a lot of bad habits over the years and I’m even #soberAF. I am always working to better myself but I just realized that I was working against myself by turning away from pain instead of turning towards it. It’s why, no matter how many habits I’ve dropped, something else is always in the way. I’ve kinda went into hiding this year, stripping my life of all potential distractions to turn inward and return to Self. I don’t know how much I’ll be on here, I check in on occasion, but just want to wish y’all the best. Hope your well, love you!!!

I went bikepacking for a few days. It was really fun and the camping was stellar, only a little chilly (my water barely froze which is quite the change from Flagstaff where my water freezes nearly every night now 😂). The route is called Sky Island Odyssey and it’s in Southern Arizona. I highly recommend it.

A storm blows in over a Wyoming lake. We watch lightening streak across the sky while we cook our dinner. The wind picks up as thunder rumbles at more regular intervals. It pours but it passes just as quickly as it blew in. Do you mind thunderstorms while camping?

Run-and-gun filmmaking in the Great Smokey Mountains for @publiclandsfilm documentary. It's been a while since I was able to experience fall on the East Coast. Last year (2019), I was busy working my tail off. I was in Southeast Asia the year prior (2018), Oregon and Cali the year before that (2017), Maine finishing up the AT in 2016, and bike touring across Mexico and Central America in 2015. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m bragging or something, just thinking out loud. My life has been pretty crazy since I left everything behind in 2012 and I have a hard time keep track of it all.⁠ .⁠ #protectpubliclands #filmmaking #autumn #greatsmokeymountains ⁠

It was our last night backpacking to the most remote place in the lower 48, Thorofare Patrol Cabin in Yellowstone National Park. The threat of a Grizzly encounter was high. We walked in their footsteps, as well as that of wolves, nearly every step of our five day journey, but we only saw a black bear. Nature rewarded us in other ways, of course, with gorgeous sunsets and silence; tranquility. We had the hike to ourselves as the park is restrictive in permitting. We only saw a few other hikers and only in passing. Still, it doesn't feel very remote. Pristine and mostly untouched but its weird entering such a place from one of busiest places in the country (at least as far as National parks are concerned); after waiting in endless lines of traffic stopped to watch the wildlife. I'm told it's best for the park, though, as most are contained to a relatively small area. In any case, I'd go back in a heartbeat. ⁠⠀ .⁠⠀ #hikertrash #yellowstonenationalpark #tranquility #womanwhohike⁠⠀

A quiet, peaceful camp on the South Fork of the Boise River while riding the Idaho Hot Springs Route. The map shows a hot spring here but it didn't have any soak-able pools. Oh well. It was still worth wading across the river to explore. ⁠⠀ .⁠⠀ #bikepacking #Idahohotspringsroute #campvibes #worldbybike⁠⠀

The temperature is dropping to single digits, making cooking near impossible as my oil is frozen solid, but I wouldn't trade van life for the world. I get to call places like this home and explore on bike and foot. This life isn’t always glamorous, they call us dirtbags for a reason 😅 but I'll trade comfort, cleanliness, and the illusion of security for experiences like these any sub-freezing night. ⁠⠀ .⁠⠀ #grandtetons #vanlife #homeiswhereyouparkit #visitwyoming⁠⠀