The year is 2012, I have just thru-hiked from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and I’ve just arrived in Minneapolis via Amtrak. Old friends and future roommates Nikki & Sabastian Desotelle pick me up from the station and bring me back to their home for a few days of story-swapping, beer brewing, and backyard kiddie-pool relaxing before the slow trudge back to post-adventure ‘reality’. The seeds of their own thru-hike are planted during this visit and over the next 9 years the idea blooms slowly into reality.
The onset of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 set off an unexpected chain of events. The Desotelle’s PCT thru-hike is postponed and I am indefinitely furloughed from my job as a sales rep in the outdoor industry. The pleasant aspects of unemployment quickly wear off, and I am left feeling like an uninterested spectator to the life I am living. Each day’s struggle to beat back the onslaught of monotony ends in defeat. I struggle to find purpose and feel the urge to bury myself in a project. A plan to retake control of my trajectory begins to form. It’s time to hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) and cross backpacking’s Triple Crown off my bucket list.
Fast forward to April of 2021 when Nikki and Sabastian have made their way to the southern terminus and begun the 2,600 mile journey North. I’ve spent the last few months running/backpacking/mountain biking out of my newly converted van and am preparing to start the CDT in May. I can’t think of a better way to get my hiking legs under me than to meet up with friends to enjoy some miles on the PCT in Southern California.
I catch up to the duo just west of Palm Springs California and over the course of a week, we climb to the top Mt. San Jacinto and descend to the desert. We take a day off in Idylwild, endure temperatures that swing from freezing to roasting in the same day, and meander north on snow and dirt and sand. We have conversations in the way only good friends can. There are lots of deep belly laughs, a few tears, time spent in the past, present and future, and a good deal of silent understanding. I feel a bit like a mother hen looking after freshly hatched chicks and try to share what hiking wisdom I’ve picked up during my long walks. When the time comes for them to head North without me, I can’t help but feel proud of my friends for all they have overcome. Their strength, persistence, and partnership are worth celebrating and I can’t wait to sit with my feet in a kiddie pool and toast to their journey.
In a few days and with a little luck, I’ll find myself at the CDT’s southern terminus. The Crazy Cook monument on New Mexico’s border with Mexico is where I’ll begin my 4 month, ~2,800 mile jaunt north to Canada. Almost a decade since my thru-hike of the PCT, I am looking forward to the challenge.
My sincerest thanks to everyone who has encouraged, supported, and pushed me over the last year. I would not be here without your phone calls, texts, and words of encouragement. Call me so I can return the favor. I won’t always have cell service, but I promise to return phone calls in the order they are received.