by Paty | Mar 1, 2022 | Arizona Trail, Southwest US, Trail Journals
February 28, 2022 Start: Eugene, OR End: Hereford, AZ Miles traveled: 1,400+ miles by air and car My alarm woke me from my warm, comfy bed in Eugene while it was still pitch black outside. I’d booked the earliest flight possible to Arizona. This meant a 6:20 am...
by Paty | Feb 21, 2022 | Arizona Trail, Gear, West Coast
It’s been a few years now since started long-distance hiking. And over that time, I’ve made a lot of changes to my gear set-up. I moved from a sleeping bag to a quilt. I started with a semi-freestanding tent, then moved to a single-walled trekking pole...
by Paty | Feb 6, 2022 | Arizona Trail, Hiking
I’m ashamed to admit this, but my training plans for thru-hikes always sucked! I would venture out on some overnight backpacking trips before my longer hikes. I’d try to figure out what was (and was not) not working. Overall though, these short shakedown...
by Paty | Jan 25, 2022 | Books
Welcome to my fourth annual winter reading list! Each winter, I recommend a few outdoor-related books to keep people motivated for the upcoming hiking season. As an avid reader, I enjoy fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and just about everything in between. Yet nothing...
by Paty | Oct 21, 2021 | Books, Gear, Oregon Coast Trail
Do you want to know my biggest challenge while thru-hiking the Oregon Coast Trail (or OCT)? It wasn’t the road walks along busy Highway 101. Nor was it the long stretches of solitude without a trail family. It wasn’t even trying to time the ocean’s...
by Paty | Sep 19, 2021 | Gear, Timberline Trail, West Coast
My 40-mile trek around Mt. Hood was my last backpacking trip of the 2021 season. The mid-September weather was still dry and warm, so I was able to pack pretty light for this adventure. Nonetheless, I still wanted to try out a few pieces of gear that weren’t on...
