Author: mountainmanpioneer

To the coworker at my last job who said I’d never make it to Virginia, hello from West Virginia! After a long hiker hibernation, I’m back! Oh, and I’m at mile 1,000! You can call me by my trail name: Soundtrack! My boyfriend is Easy Street and we’ve been cruising along the Appalachian Trail going NOBO for over three months now.
Let’s Jump Right In!
Today we went from Piney Ridge Summit in Virginia to a stealth site by a spring at mile 1,008.9 on the Roller Coaster section of the trail 16 miles before Harpers Ferry, ...

The post Hello from 1,000 Miles! appeared first on The Trek.

What: FREE repairs to all thru-hikers!
Where: PCT Days, Cascade Locks, Oregon
When: August 16th-18th
No matter how prepared you are, somewhere along the 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, everyone’s gear and clothing suffers casualties. Straps rip, zippers break, and jackets tear. Usually that means getting creative with a makeshift repair until the next stop where you can replace it—and toss the old one “away.” But where is “away?” And after hundreds of miles, ...

The post Rugged Thread Is Offering Free Gear Repair at PCT Trail Days 8/16 – 8/18 appeared first on The Trek.

Finally made it to Wyoming! I made it to the spot I flipped up to for the Basin. Now we’re heading up to South Pass City at the end of the Basin to start back up where we left off. It’s just 1,200 miles of unbroken trail from here. No more flipping or flopping. New trail means new ways of being. I’m not walking through anything anymore, now I’m just walking toward something. Which really excites me. ...

The post Crossing a State Line!!!!! appeared first on The Trek.

Day 17: 9.9 Miles
Today was a lazy morning. Resting in a hotel on a mattress was luxurious. You’d have thought that with a king bed, bigger than my entire two-man tent, there would have been plenty of room for me and Arry. She cuddled so close I ended up almost off the bed!
I woke up early as usual.  The hotel said they had a complimentary breakfast. So about 5:30 a.m. I checked to see if they had coffee ready. ...

The post Wetfoot and Arry, Vol 9. Days 17 and 18: Katahdin! appeared first on The Trek.

Entering the Sierra
I don’t want to bash on the desert too much. It was amazing. I endured challenges such as heat and long dry stretches. There were struggles with motivation and personal resolve. But I met amazing people and saw incredible beauty. I learned to live very simply and appreciate the small things. I would absolutely hike those 700 beautiful miles again and encourage others to do the same. However, the Sierra Nevada are on a whole different level. ...

The post The Majestic Sierra Nevada appeared first on The Trek.

Y’all, it’s been one hell of a week.
Quite literally, this week has had its ups and downs. (See what I did there?)
Since my last post, I have summited a handful of mountains, I think four of which were over 4,000 feet!  Every time I get to the top, I swear it’s the most beautiful sight I have ever seen.
While I have not lied at any point that I have said that, no place seems to be able to hold the title down for long.  ...

The post AT SOBO 2019: Caratunk, Stratton, Tramily, and Trials appeared first on The Trek.

Though I have already been in about three trail towns I haven’t quite had the time or motivation to post. I am having a blast, but as you might imagine, hiking all day, every day is pretty tiring. I have met a handful of awesome people and can’t wait to meet even more. Because I haven’t posted since before hiking Katahdin I feel like I have a lot to share, so this post will likely been less than an organizational masterpiece and more a conglomerate of tales, ...

The post Tales and Tidbits from My First Few Weeks on Trail appeared first on The Trek.

During last night’s sunset, I told Matt that we should try to wake up early enough in the morning to catch Blue Hour, the short period just before the sun rises when the sky is a deep blue and all the colors are very vivid. He is a little hesitant at first, but I remind him that all we would need to do to take a photo of the incredible scenery around us is literally to unzip the fly and stick the camera out of the tent. ...

The post Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Jyrgalan-Jergez Traverse, Day 5 appeared first on The Trek.

After all the rain yesterday, the stars came out last night and treated us to another show, Milky Way included. We awake at 6 am with the intention of having breakfast at 7 and hitting the trail earlier than normal. Today is a big day with lots of elevation gain and loss en route to a few key destinations—the Boz-Uchuk Lakes, an unnamed 3516 meter pass, and possible views of the snowy Tashtambek-Tor-Bashi Peak.
There are two key elements on this trek, ...

The post Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Jyrgalan-Jergez Traverse, Day 4 appeared first on The Trek.

It rains throughout the night, and, when I wake up at 6 am, I am desperate to get out of the tent and use the bathroom. But, with the rain still coming down, I play possum for a bit, and, when it’s apparent that sleep is no longer an option, I read to distract my attention from my full bladder.
Matt finally wakes up at 7. His air mattress has been leaking since we arrived in Kyrgyzstan, ...

The post Trekking Kyrgyzstan’s Jyrgalan-Jergez Traverse, Day 3 appeared first on The Trek.