Our Thru-Hiking Resumes
The Timeline
Over the Years
Veggie’s Thru-Hiking Journey
Camino De Santiago Francés
This was my first long-distance trail at only 19 years old! I was studying abroad in Spain at the time and wanted to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. My 19-year-old brain thought that if I could walk 500 miles, I could clearly walk 2200. It was a steep learning curve, but I loved the simple life of walking every day.
Camino de Santiago del Norte
I thought about hiking the entire next year of college, so I flew back to Spain to hike another Camino. Over that year, I began backpacking the High Peaks in the Adirondacks and had better skills for this harder Camino de Santiago. Plus, who doesn’t want to walk on the beach for part of the day?!
Appalachian Trail (Nobo)
Still thinking about hiking constantly, I took off the spring semester of my junior year to thru-hike the classic Appalachian Trail. I went at different paces, testing hiking styles. For some portions, I tried back-to-back large mile days. For others, I slowed down and packed out a book while making sure to stop and make a campfire with friends. It took me just shy of 6 months.
Colorado Trail
Desperate to get off the East Coast of the U.S., I drove west as soon as I graduated. I wanted bigger, higher, more exposed mountains, and the Colorado Trail gave me that–as well as a healthy new knowledge of thundestorms! I added 5 extra 14ers to the route…because why not?! I also got fed up with my boots halfway through and threw them out in favor of sandals.
Pacific Crest Trail (Nobo)
After spending my first winter out west, learning to ski and working a seasonal job, I quit and jumped from snow to the Mojave Desert of the PCT. Desert hiking was new to me, but backpacking felt like coming home at this point. California felt like the longest state ever after the AT, but it taught me a lot, especially about fire season. Oregon had some speedy miles before I raced north to Canada before winter. This is the first full thru-hike with sandals, and where I found the hiking skirt.
Continental Divide Trail (sobo)
I tried to get through grad school without a thru-hike, but I couldn’t quite make it. With only one semester left, I left for the CDT to clear my head before writing my thesis. I LOVED the CDT. The ruggedness, the coldness, the soaking rain…I loved it all. And, I met Karma (my partner) on the CDT going in opposite directions. We converged in Lima, Mt, and had a fantastic zero before swapping numbers and continuing our own hikes. At this point, I solidified my love for hiking in a dress. We love this iPhone 6 photo quality down here.
Pacific Northwest Trail
I finished grad school and already needed to clear my head. I also convinced Karma and some CDT friends to hike the PNT. Karma and I like to joke that our first date was 1,200 miles. The PNT took us between two of my favorite National Parks: Glacier NP and Olympic NP. At this point, there was no Far Out on the PNT, and it wasn’t complete.
hayduke trail
Karma and I had the Hayduke Trail on our radar for a long time, but knew we had to build the skills first. It tested us in both our skills and our relationship in a way that no other trail has since. We learned so much about caching food and water for this hike. While we loved its rugged beauty, we don’t recommend it until you, too, have built your skills.
Camino de Santiago Primitivo
I hiked the Camino Primitivo with my Mom! She wanted in on the action, but wasn’t as keen on the tent part of thru-hiking. We settled on the Camino Primitivo all the way out to both Finisterre and Muxía.
Oregon Coast Trail (sobo, Round 1)
After the difficulty of the Hayduke and then the fatigue of international travel, we opted for the OCT. With towns often every day or every other day, it offered something different than most thru-hikes. We had to plan our days around the tides and legal campsites rather than how many miles we felt like doing.
Wonderland Trail
We didn’t intend to hike the Wonderland this year, but The Darkness had space on her permit, so we jumped at the opportunity. Fresh off the first snow in September, we hiked it in only 5.5 days with one food cache in the middle.
Lowest to Highest Route
I didn’t quite know what to expect going into this hike, but I loved the unique opportunity to traverse the mountain ranges that few people walked through. The route finding kept us on our toes as we hiked through both high heat and near-freezing temperatures.
Appalachian Trail (sobo)
Karma finally wanted to hike the AT and asked if I’d do it again. I said I would, but only if we could go south (a different direction) and start by adding on Katahdin’s Knife Edge (didn’t have time in 2010). With that, we set off at a faster pace to test our endurance a bit. We did it in 105 days…not too shabby.
Scottish National Trail
We wanted to go international again for a hike, so we picked the lesser-known Scottish National Trail. It took us just over 5 weeks and was an amazing way for both of us to experience a new country together. The Scottish Highlands were a huge highlight! We found a new level of understanding for bogs…
Continental Divide Trail (Nobo)
After the pandemic and building out our second van, we needed a long hike. We wanted to hike the CDT together after we met on it, going opposite directions. Based on the snow conditions we watched all winter, we opted to go north. This went great until Northern New Mexico, when we started post-holing through deep snow. We opted for a 2.5-week break in Seattle, debating a flip-flop, but ultimately decided to go back to where we left off. Steadily, we continued north and managed to beat the first snow in Glacier by one day.
Grand Enchantment Trail
We were aching for some desert time and another route, so we set out on the GET. At 800 miles, it packed a lot in. I have a whole new appreciation for catclaw avoidance and shade after this hike! We really enjoyed seeing the stretch of the CDT that went through the Black Range of New Mexico. Both times we hiked the CDT, we opted for the Gila route instead.
Desert Winter thru-hike
Fully in our desert phase, we decided to try out the new Desert Winter Thru-Hike route. We had itchy feet fairly early in the winter, so we headed out at the end of January. There was an option to add on miles to connect the route to both the AZT and the PCT, so naturally, we did that. During this hike, I realized just how picky I was getting about different deserts. I can for sure say that the Sonoran Desert is my favorite so far.
Portuguese Camino
For my Mom’s 70th birthday, she said she wanted to see Portugal and asked if we’d hike the Portuguese Camino with her. We set out on a fall hike from Lisbon, only to find it hotter than expected in mid-September. It was fascinating to see yet another evolution of technology reach the Caminos — from navigation apps to pre-booking albergues.
Oregon Coast Trail (Sobo, round 2)
We needed to get out and hike this summer, but didn’t have much time to plan anything. So, we opted for a second hike of the OCT in July! While there is more planning than you think for the OCT, we already had a lot of it done from our first hike. Having Far Out for navigation this time went waaaay more smoothly than using GaiaGPS without tracks, and the blog post descriptions of the trail I was reading each day.
Over the Years
Karma’s Thru-Hiking Journey
Kalalau Trail
Karma jumped on the Kalalau Trail as a gear test for the PCT. Plus, who doesn’t want to backpack in Hawaii???
Pacific Crest Trail (Nobo)
Karma loved the PCT and still talks about it frequently. He learned from seeing all the hikers around him, battled through an injury, and still managed to beat winter to Canada.
Continental Divide Trail (Nobo)
Karma set out in early March to kick off the CDT nobo season. This was a great plan until he hit the snows of Colorado. Opting to hike through, he managed to keep a true nobo hike in a season where most flipped. He met Veggie while hitching into Lima, MT, and still managed to finish in Canada.
Pacific Northwest Trail
Veggie convinced Karma to hike this one by setting up all the necessary transportation — all he had to do was get to Seattle.
hayduke trail
Karma was dead set on hiking the Hayduke after hearing about it. He hiked from Moab to Hanksville with a different friend, but decided to get off for another adventure. He and Veggie planned it out more thoroughly in 2017 and made it the whole way.
Oregon Coast Trail (sobo, Round 1)
After the difficulty of the Hayduke and then the fatigue of international travel, we opted for the OCT. With towns often every day or every other day, it offered something different than most thru-hikes. We had to plan our days around the tides and legal campsites rather than how many miles we felt like doing.
Wonderland Trail
We didn’t intend to hike the Wonderland this year, but The Darkness had space on her permit, so we jumped at the opportunity. Fresh off the first snow in September, we hiked it in only 5.5 days with one food cache in the middle.
Lowest to Highest Route
Karma planned the logistics on this one, and Veggie got to come along for the ride! It’s high on Karma’s “re-hike wish list.”
Appalachian Trail (sobo)
Karma originally wanted to do the Triple Crown in three sequential years: PCT, CDT, then AT. However, when the time came for the AT, he didn’t feel like it. Instead of forcing it, he hiked other trails that he felt more drawn to until one day he decided he was ready for it.
Scottish National Trail
We wanted to go international again for a hike, so we picked the lesser-known Scottish National Trail. It took us just over 5 weeks and was an amazing way for both of us to experience a new country together. The Scottish Highlands were a huge highlight! We found a new level of understanding for bogs…
Continental Divide Trail (Nobo)
After the pandemic and building out our second van, we needed a long hike. We wanted to hike the CDT together after we met on it, going opposite directions. Based on the snow conditions we watched all winter, we opted to go north. This went great until Northern New Mexico, when we started post-holing through deep snow. We opted for a 2.5-week break in Seattle, debating a flip-flop, but ultimately decided to go back to where we left off. Steadily, we continued north and managed to beat the first snow in Glacier by one day.
Grand Enchantment Trail
We were aching for some desert time and another route, so we set out on the GET. At 800 miles, it packed a lot in. I have a whole new appreciation for catclaw avoidance and shade after this hike! We really enjoyed seeing the stretch of the CDT that went through the Black Range of New Mexico. Both times we hiked the CDT, we opted for the Gila route instead.
Desert Winter thru-hike
Fully in our desert phase, we decided to try out the new Desert Winter Thru-Hike route. We had itchy feet fairly early in the winter, so we headed out at the end of January. There was an option to add on miles to connect the route to both the AZT and the PCT, so naturally, we did that. During this hike, I realized just how picky I was getting about different deserts. I can for sure say that the Sonoran Desert is my favorite so far.
Portuguese Camino
For Veggie’s Mom’s 70th birthday, she wanted to see Portugal. Her Mom asked if we’d hike the Portuguese Camino with her. We set out on a fall hike from Lisbon, only to find it hotter than expected in mid-September. It was Karma’s first Camino, and he wasn’t the biggest fan.
Oregon Coast Trail (Sobo, round 2)
We needed to get out and hike this summer, but didn’t have much time to plan anything. So, we opted for a second hike of the OCT in July! While there is more planning than you think for the OCT, we already had a lot of it done from our first hike. Having Far Out for navigation this time went waaaay more smoothly than using GaiaGPS without tracks, and the blog post descriptions of the trail I was reading each day.
