The Mary Badass

I’m going to do the same thing I did at Roosevelt Lake, which is to post about where I am today and see if it helps me get inspired to polish up some of the back blogs so I can post them. A few weeks back I was blessed that a young woman named Kremlin…

As I mentioned before, the stretch from the Gila to Roosevelt Lake was tough. It had some of the steepest ups and downs of the trail to date, as well as some long water carries. Often the trail was full of large, sharp, loose rocks. And even when the terrain leveled out a bit, it…

Another thought I had hiking this last section was that I’m useless. I expect many of you will hear that and say “oh no, that’s not true.” But in the end, feeling useless turned out to be a gift. Let me explain. As I was hiking along, a young guy went past me and within…

A number of people have been asking me about my holy shit day so here it is. I left Kearney early in the morning and followed along the Gila river for a number of miles, although most of the time I was too far up the mountain to be able to reach the river. I…

I pulled out of Summerhaven about 1 o’clock and headed over Oracle Ridge on a cold windy day. I was surprised at the lack of water on Oracle Ridge, especially given how wet it was just south of Summerhaven. The trail included a lot of little ups and downs and I wasn’t moving too fast.…

It is April 19 and I’m doing something very unusual for me, which is I’m taking two zeros in one place. A zero is hiker lingo for a day in which one walks 0 miles. After walking 344 miles I’ve landed in lovely oasis owned by trail angels Becky and Scott in Tonto Basin Arizona.…

My second day after Summerhaven, I did something rare for me, which is that I didn’t push at the end of the day. I got to a lovely sandy wash surrounded by a hillside of Saguaro. The sun was shining so it was warm but not too hot and even though I could’ve gone on…

People always ask me if I’m afraid out here. I tell them the most dangerous part of the trip is the drive across country. Instead of fear, my main feelings on the trail are gratitude and trust. For starters, I trust the people who made the trail and who maintain it. As a hiker I…

I did make it over Mount Mica. Two young guys came through and led the way which made it a lot easier for me as I didn’t have to do all the route finding and breaking trail in the snow. After checking a number of times and always finding their tracks spot on, I followed…

Today I thought about senses a lot. I am grateful to have all the ones I have, even if some are diminishing with age. My eyes are allowing me to see such incredible sites. Besides the millions of flowers and absolutely awe inspiring saguaro cactus I see truly dark star skies at night and sunsets…