Embrace the Brutality
When you’re 21 and leave college to hike 2200 miles alone, I have it on good authority that your parents might be ✨unamused✨. And when, in your late twenties, you quit your job, sell everything you own, and fly halfway around the world to play in the mud, you’ll get a few raised eyebrows and not-so-subtle suggestions that you’re “ruining your career.” But it says something distinct about the present moment that when Jonathan and I, now in our mid thirties, announced that we were leaving our established careers in a wildly uncertain economy, renting our condo to strangers, and heading to the woods for five months, y’all were 100% on board.
Frizz and Pedi getting back in hiker trash mode
Jonathan and I are beyond excited to assume our trail personas (Frizz and Pedi) and begin our next adventure, with 3000+ miles of wild, rugged, beautiful trail ahead of us this summer. We’ll be flying to Kalispell, MT on June 15th to start our thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). The CDT has been a dream for us since we completed the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 2014. In some ways, I’ve had it splashing around in my brain since 2012 and my first steps on the Appalachian Trail (AT).
There is a very specific appeal to leaving daily life behind right now, though it is a complicated time for us to leave. We have a lot more stuff than we used to, including a home and two cars. We’ve built an amazing community of friends and neighbors in Colorado. And on a larger scale, we’re seeing what you’re seeing: historic levels of economic uncertainty, war, famine, and genocide abroad, a constant barrage of hateful political speech, and a broad devaluing (and defunding) of science and education. It is also a complicated time to travel on public lands: layoffs among federal employees and massively reduced funding will mean Parks are understaffed, trail maintenance will suffer, and it may be harder to get updates on closures, wildfires, and other hazards.
And yet.
Last year was a tough one for us physically. I had hip surgery in May and Jonathan badly broke his ankle in July. The idea of thru-hiking again one day was a powerful force pushing both of us to stay diligent with PT and stay positive during recovery.
Recent news has also made us think twice about how long these trails will be as accessible to us as they are today. How long will Glacier National Park still have glaciers? And for how many years will long stretches of trail remain as protected land? There are constant reminders of this in the news, including a bill passed by Republicans in the House this month that – if it passes the Senate as is – would expand options for mining and drilling for oil and gas on public lands, including in our National Parks. The original version of that bill also proposed selling off huge swaths of public lands and approved building an industrial road through Gates of the Arctic National Preserve in Alaska. It was only through an uprising of public criticism that those measures were struck from the final version.
Prepping a 4-day resupply to send ahead
And so, it is time to go. Taking the first steps on this trail will absolutely be a dream come true. Thru-hiking has changed me – shaped me – in so many ways that it has fundamentally become a part of who I am. And the CDT? Well, it’s the big one. The CDT is not only the longest of the three American long-distance trails, but it’s also by far the most remote and most logistically challenging. I’d tell you more here, but I wrote a whole other page about it so go read that one!
Jonathan and I are ready to find what the CDT has in store and be moved and changed and challenged by all of it. We’d love to have you along for the ride. Subscribe to the blog for email updates when new posts are published or follow us on Instagram (Jonathan or Molly) for more bite-sized updates.
