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Life Update: so we’re low key living in the shed our friends built for their #moonboard, playing really intense board games, and trying to build arm muscle while we figure out what’s next. 🤷🏻‍♀️ But hey, Amos has construction gigs 🔨 to help him afford all the dang donuts he eats, even though I’ve told him many times the war is over. (Come home son!). #posttraillife #yetstillhikertrash
I recently fell in love with this mountain range and learned what a difference light can make in photography. 📸 (The first two photos were taken only 15 minutes apart!) Now, I’m on a friend’s couch anxiously applying for all the jobs and sipping tea. #posttrailblues • 📍Land of the Shoshone-Bannock, Eastern Shoshone, and Cheyenne peoples
Pacific Crest Trail ↟ I didn’t grow up hiking, nor did I grow up with an outdoorsy family. Soon after I turned seventeen, I became homeless for a summer and that changed everything. All I had was a 35L backpack a friend’s mother had given me and a handful of clothes I bought at Goodwill. My bank account was less than $300. I ate ramen, granola bars, and oatmeal often... hm, sound familiar? Friends and family would host me for a night or two at a time, but I didn’t feel like I belonged anywhere. My lowest moment is when I tried to hunker down at a 24/7 coffee shop with no place to go - luckily a friend came thru last minute. It was a summer of adventure, uncertainty, deepened friendships, community and heartache. Eventually, I was accepted into scholarship housing and started college full time. I remember looking at my backpack and thinking, “You know, this thing is going to be a symbol of my strength, not shame... I’m going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and live out of a backpack on purpose.” And that’s what I did 2 years later, taking three semesters of college off to do so. 7 years, 5000+ miles, and a second thru-hike later, a backpack means a hell of a lot to me. 💪 #expandthenarrative #forceofnature #pctig #thruhiker • 📸: @wandering_amosly
Pacific Crest Trail ↟ It makes Tuna B and I teary-eyed to think about all the folks who’ve helped us to complete our thru-hike. 😭 I have so much gratitude to share. This would literally not be possible without the support of others. In my mind this post is like when the credits roll at the end of a movie. So, thank you... ✧ Friends and Family who sent words of encouragement, support, and love throughout our journey, especially after my mom passed away. You reaching out meant a lot to me. 💗 ✧ Friends and Family who sent care packages along the way. Amos’ folks are rockstars! They sent 13+ food boxes. 😲 ✧ The eight or so Trail Angels who let us, complete strangers, crash at their houses. The amount of trust on Trail is unreal! ✧ The local, sometimes teeny tiny, businesses that support hikers with the wacko services they need, like eating all the things and a place to rinse our socks. ✧ The Trail Angels who give hikers rides to and from towns in areas that are hard to hitch (the real MVPs) ✧ All the random people who picked us up - two smelly hikers with their thumbs out! Sometimes they had no idea what the PCT even is... 🤷🏻‍♀️ ✧ California friends! It was great to see your friendly faces as we figured out #traillife. ✧ Oregon friends! Seeing you was a motivator to keep going tho we were so... SO tired. ✧ Washington friends! Y’all showed up for us at every single road crossing... it truly felt like coming home. ✧ @teenuhseeg - gurl, you were the greatest motivational coach and PCT coordinator EVER. When my glasses broke, I knew you had me covered. Plus, you drove our asses to and from the Trail, even when it made you late to work! 💗 ✧ @charlee_ann it was great to crash at your place, catch up and recoup. Also, you are the best for picking us up in the middle of the desert to drive us to the airport... like, wow. 💗 ✧ @__burdie @max_a_k thank you for storing our gear while we were homeless!!! 💗 ✧ @lexiewaslike thank you for letting us park our car at your house! ✧ And everyone else! Your words of encouragement thru this platform have been very heartwarming. 💗 #pctig #mexicotocanada
Pacific Crest Trail ↟ Our last full day on Trail was jam packed with adventure and adrenaline! We began the morning with a ridge walk through the Granite Chief Wilderness. Strong gusts threatened to blow us over - my legs wobbled with every step. The low hanging clouds flew by overhead, looking as if the world were on fast forward. Eventually, the bottom of the clouds fell out and we were surrounded by snow pellets. I mean, dang... from no snow to a couple of inches within an hour! ❅ The most surprising part of the day were the bursts of thunder and lightning, too. I had no idea that could happen while it was so cold! (According to google it’s extremely rare.) ❅ We began running down the mountain - our feet pat pat patting on the white Earth. The electrical storm was right above us. We’d see the lightning and then BOOM 💥 - hardly a moment in between! I legit thought we were toast. I could hear nearby trees crackling as they were struck; could feel the hair on my neck tingling. One of the scariest moments in my 24 years of life... We descended quickly down a side trail, plotting what to do next. I worried we’d become hypothermic, or take the same fate of the infamous Donner Party. Eventually, we no longer heard the thunder - we were far enough away, but apparently in a “thundersnow” if you hear the thunder you’re less than 2 miles from the strikes because snow muffles sound. 😅 ❅ By the end of the day, we’d reached Donner Ski Ranch - a safe haven from the wintery scene outside. We took scolding hot showers and ate all the warm food, drank the free beer. While I was blissed out by the evening, I would never ever ever choose an experience like that one again! What a way to end a long journey... #pctig #thruhiking • 📍Ancestral territory of the Washoe Tribe
Pacific Crest Trail: ✔️ 2 6 5 0 miles... time to sleep for at least 3 months, and drink lots of hot tea. ☕️ ❅ I am so so glad we finished when we did because it’s been snowing nonstop ever since! Our last week was the toughest we’ve faced on Trail - 30+ mile days, no time for rest, cold nights, body aches, freak thunderstorms... Wow. It’s been unreal, y’all! ❅ I have so much gratitude in my heart for the many folks who’ve helped us along the way. I’ll share more soon! But in short, we could not have done this without your support, love, & kindness. 🙏 ❅ 📍Ancestral territory of the Washoe Tribe

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