Continental Divide Trail Coalition Fundraiser in Bend March 12

Posted on February 23, 2015 by sheraaaa

After the great suggestion from Brenda and Candace at Nevado Mountain Adventures, I’ve decided to hold a fundraiser for the Continental Divide Trail Coalition in Bend before I leave for the hike.

Join me and three other bad-ass local ladies who have already thru-hiked the CDT at Patagonia @ Bend, 1000 NW Wall St., on Thursday, March 12 at 7pm to learn more about the trail, raise funds for the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, enter the gear raffle, and drink free beer. (Below is the press release)

As the Continental Divide Trail Coalition’s first Trail Ambassador, Renee will share the story of the organization’s mission to complete and protect America’s wildest and most remote long distance trail along the backbone of the Continental Divide. Learn about the youngest and longest of the “Triple Crown” trails: a path that stretches from Mexico to Canada and passes through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. The trail isn’t complete, so in addition to raising awareness of the incredibly scenic and difficult endeavor of thru-hiking (completing the entire trail in one trip), she will raise money for the Coalition’s efforts through a gear raffle.

Enjoy free beer and hear stories from three local women who have already thru-hiked the CDT: Sage Clegg, Mary Moynihan, and Kim Geisreiter. Sage was the first woman to have completed the Triple Crown (Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail) in 18 months; Mary was the only women to successfully complete a north-bound thru-hike of the CDT in 2011, a year with some of the highest snow levels in recent history; and Kim not only completed a south-bound CDT hike in 2011, but will be thru-hiking the trail again this year north-bound.

The CDT will be Renee’s 8th long-distance backpacking trail, and she will not only talk about what it means to hike the trail in one trip, (long waterless stretches, high snow levels, grizzly territory) but will have a “show and tell” with the gear she will be carrying, including some unique homemade items.

Come support America’s longest backpacking trail and learn more about the intrepid folks who hike it.

The raffle will include items from: Hikertrash, Purple Rain Adventure Skirts, Namaspa Yoga & Massage, The Trail Show, Lava Love, Silipint,Oregon Natural Desert Association, Oboz Footwear, TurboPUP, GoMacro Macrobars, Point6, STANLEY, Embrace the Brutality: A Continental Divide Trail Adventure, squatchfilms.com, Cairn, Hikertrash: Life on the Pacific Crest Trail, Nevado Mountain Adventures, Bronwen Jewelry, Pizza Mondo and more.

Having Fun on a Thru-Hike

Posted on February 21, 2015 by sheraaaa

One of the reasons I keep coming back to long distance backpacking is the pure enjoyment of it all. Sure there is pain, and dirt and a fair amount of suffering, but there is a lot of fun.

When experiences are as intense as thru-hiking can be, you learn a lot about your fellow hikers in those times. Seeing a person’s true colors leads to deep connections that often span years between hikes, and often those most memorable times include a lot of laughter.

Friends, and very funny guys, Squatch and Jester are great at putting those ridiculous moments on film. You should check out Squatch’s series, Walk, Still Walking, Even More Walking and Walked. He caught me on film in Even More Walking at the Hiker Heaven hostel in 2006…while he was interviewing me he was also deploying a fart machine.

Jester’s series Wizards of the PCT and Embrace the Brutality are freaking hilarious, for anyone looking to learn about the non-serious side of thru-hiking, check out these two guys’ movies.

Having fun can include carrying ridiculous things (you gotta find out what the Wizard is in Jester’s movie). I won a whoopie cushion in a raffle at the PCT kick-off in 2006 and carried it for most of the trail.

Why? Cause.

Mags deemed my whoopie cushion not useless, so I carried it.

Yep, still have it on the Oregon/California border, 1700 miles later.

Oh yeah, did I mentioned that I shaved my head prior to hiking the PCT? I had a going away party where for every $5 someone donated to my hiking fund, they could take some scissors to my hair. At the end of the night we shaved it all off and also shaved “PCT” into the back of my head (my friends cut enough of my hair off that I was able to buy the digital camera I took on the trail that year!). That lead to lots more shaving that night…

Why not? Lint did it too.

So one of the best parts of the PCT for me was meeting my dear friend NEMO. That girl knows how to have fun. Along the hike she taught me how to knit.

Really, knitting is a pretty good hobby to have on a long trail. Yarn doesn’t weigh much, and you can make useful things like hats for hikers while you walk!

We would knit on all the passes in the Sierra.

I finished my first hat at VVR for my AT hiking friend little g (he later wore it on his PCT hike!)

Before long we had a whole crew of hikers knitting. We started calling ourselves the High Alpine Knitting Club…here we are on Donohue Pass.

And then there was the sword. When we got to Ashland, NEMO and I decided to see a Shakespeare play (Ashland is well known for their Shakespeare Festival each year). Well, it just so happened that NEMO found a lightweight sword that she had to give me. (My trail name is She-ra after all, Princess of the Power).

I decided to knight her on the street in Ashland. (Yes, those really were our hiking clothes, we would hit up thrift stores along the trail for new duds when our old ones were wearing out)

And I carried that sword to Canada.

The point of all this (oh man, I have so many more stories!) is to have fun on your hike. Sometimes the seriousness of day-to-day life doesn’t allow for ridiculous antics that you can get up to on a long trail.

Life is far too short to be so serious.

Donna Saufley got in on the shaving action in 2006 too.

Bama & NEMO at Hiker Town. Not quite sure what’s going on there.

Calf tats courtesy of NEMO

Hike Your Own Hike

Posted on February 18, 2015 by sheraaaa

As my friend Paige and I were catching up at happy hour this week, I found myself explaining “Hike Your Own Hike,” and we both thought it applies pretty well to almost every aspect of life. As freelance graphic designers, both of us often wonder how our work compares to others, are we charging enough, are we meeting other’s expectations?? Instead we decided to stop comparing ourselves to others and just Hike Our Own Hike…Live Your Own Life. It’s brilliant!

The obvious connotation refers to the different hiking styles you will see on the long trails. I like to think the phrase originated on the Appalachian Trail where there is trail 100% of the way, and when hikers deviate from following the white blazes that mark the way they are often labeled “Not True to the Thru.” And then you can counter with Hike Your Own Hike.

There can be a lot of judgement in long distance backpacking. It ranges from what gear you carry, if you hike every mile of the trail, and what food you consume to how dirty you let yourself get. Come on people. There is no one way. Just because someone carries a certain pack or eats mostly Ramen noodles doesn’t mean their way is any less valid than another.

I like to remember Grandma Gatewood, the first female to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail in 1955 at age 67. She wore Keds shoes and carried a home-made duffle bag instead of a backpack. Did she finish the trail? Yep. Did she thru-hike it again in 1960 and 1963? Yep. Is your ultralight pack more comfortable than her duffle bag? Probably, but it doesn’t make her hike any less of a hike than yours.

Hike Your Own Hike is about tolerance. It’s about recognizing our differences and being ok with that.

I’m not sure that I’ll post my pack list before I go, or even weigh my base weight. It doesn’t really matter. I’m carrying stuff that makes me comfortable in the backcountry, and if that’s a base weight of 5 pounds or 25 pounds, that’s my choice to make.

And the CDT is quite liberating too. There is no one trail, in fact, there are often at least 3 trails you can choose from. Every map set available has alternates, and sometimes those alternates are the same, and sometimes not. There is no True to the Thru on the CDT, and that’s exactly what I’m looking forward to. Everyone hikes a different CDT. It’s yours. Make it what you will!

I like to Packraft too

Posted on February 13, 2015 by sheraaaa

Kirk and I went packrafting last weekend.

Me and big yellow, my 6ish pound packraft.

And in addition to this blog, I’ve been keeping a blog of our packraft adventures (strangely enough called Adventures with Packraft) for the past three years to chronicle trips we’ve done all over Oregon. You can read about our trip on the Chewaukan River here. (I got to calling it the She-ra-can River).

Thanks to some insomnia tonight I finally was able to get the post up. I really really really can’t wait for the simplicity of the trail. My schedule has just been killer lately (killer as in exhausting), and sometimes the only chance I get to work on some of my other interests, like maintaining the other blog, is when I can’t sleep.

The full time job, 2 businesses, 3 board positions, a relationship, friends, and trying to find time for myself is making life a bit crushing lately. I can’t complain too much as it’s all amazing and very fulfilling, but I’m tired.

I’m ready to slow down and just walk for a while.

Training for a Thru-hike

Posted on February 9, 2015 by sheraaaa

When people ask me how I train to hike a long trail, my first response is, “by eating everything I can.” Then I laugh. But it’s kind of true.

Really? You are going to put that into your body? Well, yeah, sometimes…

During a typical 20-30 mile day on the trail most hikers burn around 6,000 calories a day, an amount that is impossible to carry no matter how much peanut butter, olive oil, or chocolate you have in your pack. By the end of a 5-6 month long hike many thrus look like mere shadows of their former selves, as often the body starts consuming muscle once it has burned off all the fat reserves.

Now for women, this isn’t always the case. Our womanly figures like to preserve the baby-making ability, and will hoard the fat/muscle more than our male counterparts. I’ve heard some women say they didn’t lose any weight during a hike, which can come as a surprise to them.

I’ve typically slimmed down quite a bit over the duration of a long trail, but then again, my preparations have included consuming as much cake, beer, and cheetos as possible.

I find an amazing cache of trail magic at Rainy Pass, mile 2,593 on the PCT. At this point you really can eat whatever you want.

I found an amazing cache of trail magic at Rainy Pass, mile 2,593 on the PCT. At this point you really can eat whatever you want.

This year I’m doing things a little differently. While I probably won’t say no to a pint of IPA from one of our local breweries in Bend, I am keeping up a regular fitness routine, and I do want to eat more nutritious food on the trail.

Over three years ago I started attending the Namaspa yoga studio in Bend that specializes in Baptiste Yoga, an incredibly challenging yoga discipline, that has transformed my body from regular 2-3 sessions a week. I have never been as strong as I am now.

Now this is a full-body strong, not the typical strong that results from 2,000 miles, a condition we like to call the T-Rex syndrome. The T-Rex is a hiker that has tree-trunks for legs, someone who can climb thousands of feet without labored breathing, but can’t throw a rock past the closest tree. Think T-Rex: all leg and no arm.

Oh I hear hikers say they are going to keep their core & arms strong through daily sit-ups and push-ups. But really? At the end of your typical 28 mile day in the mountains it’s all you can do to lift your spoon to your mouth before falling asleep in your Ramen noodles. We expend so much energy during the day it’s unusual for the idealistic fitness routines to last past the first week of a hike.

So this year I’m starting the trail stronger than ever before (thanks to yoga) and also with a steady program of weekend warrioring. Kirk and I usually get out of town as soon as we can on Friday or early Saturday morning to ski, hike, packraft, raft, bike or any of the other 100’s of activities close to Bend.

Last weekend we went packrafting. This is my patented don’t swallow any of the cow-dung water move.

I’m hoping this will make the first month on the trail a little less painful than my previous 7 thru-hikes, but you never know. I’m 37 this time around, and age has a way of throwing aches & pains your way in body parts that you never knew existed.

But really…hiking all day every day is really hard to train for. The first few weeks will suck and your body will hurt, I’ll try to spare you too much whining when I start hiking north!

Oh feet. That’s a whole other issue the first few weeks on the trail.

Winter OR Show (Part 3) Gear

Posted on February 6, 2015 by sheraaaa

I could probably write 5 more posts on all that went down at the OR Show, but lets just cut to the chase…what cool gear did I find?? In addition to the Woolrich blankets I covered last time, the Triple Crown made an appearance in the sock realm as well. Point6 socks out of Steamboat Springs is making socks for thru-hikers. That’s right. Well, they are making socks for all athletes, but I came across this quote while I was writing up a blog post for Six Moon Designs by Drew Williams, operations chief with Point6: “Thru hikers commit to a multi-month series of struggles, frustrations, and gorgeous sunsets, most of which play out on their feet. We’re excited to design socks that stand up to the trials of the trail. Our co-branding efforts this year speak to our duty to help maintain these corridors and our commitment to those who use and trust our socks.”

Why is this exciting to me? Well beyond the obvious awesomeness of the socks, this is a company that recognizes thru-hikers are not only a sock-buying member of the outdoor market, but that they are making a product that can stand up to what we thru-hikers can do to a pair. I also had a great time meeting Point6 Managing Director Skip Rapp. We bonded over war-stories of outdoor adventures, and since the CDT is so close to Steamboat Springs (and a planned mail drop), I now have a new friend to go visit when I get there, and might even tour the Point6 office!

Now I wasn’t that familiar with the brand until the show, but the founders, Patty and Peter Duke (yep founders of Smartwool) started this new company a number of years ago, and it has a really cool story. Why is it named Point6? It refers to 98.6° F, the body’s optimal temperature and the temperature stabilizing properties inherent to the merino wool used in their sock. Definitely a company worth investigating for your sock needs. And look at the awesome Triple Crown socks they made (with 25% of proceeds going back to the trail organizations!)

Next up: Sierra Sage Organics. Not only did this booth entice me with their sunscreen, arnica, and bug spray (all natural and organic!) but when they saw from my badge that I was with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition Jen and her crew lit up. Sierra Sage is a mother-daughter business with strong ties to the outdoor life. Jen, the herbalist and organic farmer; and Jodi, the business woman and health psychologist; teamed up with mom Kathy, a biologist and teacher, to make this lovely line of organic skin care products.

Since the show I’ve been using the Green Goo, a powerful blend of organic herbs that can help fight infection while reducing pain and inflammation (what!?! – just what every thru-hiker needs!), the Arnica (for sore anything, and it smells really nice), and the lip balm with sunscreen. I can’t wait to try bug spray (made withWitch Hazel – deet free, citronella free, chemical free and oil free) and the sunscreen (all natural too of course). I’ve tried to become much more aware of what goes in and on my body in the past few years, and I am stoked to use these products on the trail this year. Yes I just got done saying I’ve been paying more attention to what I’m putting in my body, and that does include bacon from time to time. Darn Tough was giving out these maple-flavored ice cream cones sprinkled in BACON! I limited myself to one a day, but the same can’t be said for some other thru-hikers I know…

Here’s a bit of awesomeness from Mountainsmith & Salazon Chocolate: both are supporters of the CDTC and in addition to Salazon giving us delicious Triple Crown Chocolate bars to sell to raise money for the trail (and sample of course…my favorite is the AT bar which is filled with gooey caramel & sprinkled with sea salt!), Mountainsmith let us set up shop at their booth for a while. 20150122_095709 Mountainsmith held a happy hour for us on Thursday where proceeds from these sweet beer coolers went to the CDTC, and we had A LOT of fun slinging this on the floor of the show (POD was our hot ticket). Then these tasty bars caught my eye, first with their beautiful packaging.

Photo courtesy of Another Hungry Vegan

I’m a sucker for good design, and after meeting Payton at the GoMacro booth and gushing a little bit about their packaging, I heard they were up for a design award! Cool!

Well, the company is much deeper than their attractive marketing: these vegan, organic, and macrobiotic bars were founded by another family (I do have a soft spot for small family-owned businesses). After a nasty encounter with cancer, founder Amelia Kirchoff decided to forgoe drugs and instead convert to a macrobiotic way of life and let food and clean living heal her body. It worked, and their little farm in Eastern Wisconsin became GoMacro. I grew up in Wisconsin not too far from their farm in Viola, and I love that connection too.

I will be carrying GoMacro on the CDT this year. A large bar is 250 calories, same as a snickers! Guess which one will get me further down the trail?

I could go on and on about all I saw at the show, but I think I’ll leave you with a few more photos that hopefully sum up the experience:

Jabba (The Real Hiking Viking) was interviewed on OR Live.

Teresa & I jumped in the giant sleeping bag Sierra Designs had set up.

And even made it into the OR Show publication, OR Daily!

Swami & Allgood share their trail tips on air…

And to top off a great week, we all got to star in The Trail Show! Episode #32 (part B) is now live; tune in and hear me tell a riveting story about my bearamone problem on the PCT.

Winter OR Show (Part 2) Getting Funky

Posted on February 3, 2015 by sheraaaa

I arrived at the airport in Salt Lake City to find a truck filled with hikers fresh from the Gossamer Gear hike in Moab. Bobcat, Swami, Snorkle and Jabba had all been together for days, and by the jokes and insults flying I could tell they had fun. It wasn’t long before I was pulled into the fold and we laughed and giggled our way through the night…but early to bed for we all had a big first day of the OR Show.

What my pack looked like. Love the rainbow of hikertrash hats we have.

Taste the rainbow. hikertrash hats in my pack, oh yeah.

We all gathered at the Woolrich booth on Wednesday to ooo and aaa at the beautiful blankets they made to support our long trails. It’s an incredibly generous gesture as 100% of the proceeds of the limited edition blankets sold during the show went to the three trail organizations: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Pacific Crest Trail Association, and Continental Divide Trail Coalition.

Beeeeutiful!

I had to buy the CDT blanket of course. I’ll eventually get the others too!

The attention to detail was incredible.

I was also stoked to see the t-shirt I designed for the recent CDTC Indiegogo campaign: The Next 32 Miles.

I "trashed" up Amy McCormic, from the Appalachain Trail Conservancy (see the new shirt!)

I “trashed” up Amy McCormick, from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (see the new shirt!)

The rest of the day was a blur of color and free snack samples…and the show proper ended in a happy hour for the three trail alliances at the Woolrich booth. A well known fact about the Outdoor Retailer show: they maintain the close relationship between adventure pursuits and booze. Many many happy hours happen throughout the duration of the show (and almost all raise money for a chosen non-profit through the sale of cool mugs or some kind of schwag). The thru-hikers flocked to the booth (it may have also been the free food) and we all had a blast.

While traditionally the long distance hiking community attracts about .01% of the attention of the outdoor industry, this year seemed to be an exception; more hikers than ever attended the show, and companies actually were recognizing what an incredible thing it is to walk across the country.

It was quite thrilling to go to dinner with the executive and development directors of the AT, PCT & CTC that night, and I had fun meeting Zach, the founder of Appalachian Trials, later at the OR Industry party.

Hikertrash getting funky.

An incredible first day of the show, and just a hint at the goodness to come.

Going With It

Posted on January 29, 2015 by sheraaaa

My impending hike has been leaking out into my day job quite a bit lately. Well, to be honest I’ve been talking about it for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, the position has been incredibly rewarding; I’ve been able to really engage with the arts community, which has been fantastic, but I need to stretch my legs, see a new part of the world, and sleep on the ground for a while.

Each month in Cascade A&E, the arts magazine I’m the editor of in Bend, I write a short column, and for the February issue I found myself mentioning the CDT. You see one of the things I love about long distance hiking is the flow of it all, and I had been thinking specifically about the thru-hiking flow when the artist I interviewed for the cover story this month mentioned it. She plays music when she paints; and lets the rhythm and energy make its way to the page. It flows, without thought, and some pretty cool stuff can come out of that.

Now I don’t know about you, but I can walk for hours on a ridgetop, feeling like I’m flying and listing to Radiohead or just the wind, and I’m no longer thinking of the steps I’m taking, but I’m just being, in its most pure form.

So I wrote about flow this month. And I get home from work thinking maybe I’ll write another blog post about the OR Show when I find Kirk watching kayak videos. Kirk has been paddling whitewater (the crazy big stuff) for the past 20 years and he is to water as I am to trail. Anyway, we’re watching a video that is pure flow. The editing is beautiful, and there is music of course, and they fly down Class V gorges in Norway with you along for the ride, and you feel like you can do anything, that you could paddle that waterfall if you really wanted to, soaring through the air on a mixture of adrenalin and red bull.

I love that stuff. Since Kirk and I have been packrafting for the past 3 or so years, I’ve had fun making short videos (not quite the caliber of the Substantial Media guys), but I’m getting better! (geek out ahead: I met Evan Garcia at the Summer OR Show as he was getting some badass kayaking award! Cool!)

So since getting a GoPro for my birthday last year the quality of my little movies has gone up quite a bit, and I’m thinking about taking it on the CDT…oh the movies I could make!

Here is one I made of Kirk and i R2ing his new raft on the North Umpqua River this summer. I think you can see where I’m getting at with the flow here…

And that reminds me of another great flow video, J.P. Auclair’s Street Scene. Just watch:

I was sad to hear of J.P.’s death in the mountains last year. These things we do, these adventures we take, and places we go do have certain inherent risks. We take these risks, but so do those who don’t wear helmets or don’t floss after meals or eat too much sugar…not to mention a sedentary lifestyle…

Knowing your risks, knowing how to keep yourself safe in the wilderness and not only survive, but have the most mind-bendendly amazing experience ever, is the flow. Going with it. That’s right, going with the flow. It works on and off the trail, but one is definitely more scenic than the other

Winter OR Show (Part 1) What a Wild Ride Its Been

Posted on January 26, 2015 by sheraaaa

It has been an amazing 6 days with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition and plenty of fellow hikertrash.

Returning from the OR Show is like returning from a trip to the moon: surreal and almost too good to be true. Something became clear to me while I was wandering the halls of dreamy gear (gear so tech-ed out and shiny as to be irresistible), that this was exactly where I was supposed to be. Talking trail, creating partnerships, celebrating the ridiculous antics of my fellow (and very silly) thru-hiker friends, and all the while feeling (and knowing) that I’ll be hiking in a few months, that the CDT will actually happen!

Creating this photo seemed a fitting tribute to the week; and although it seemed like so much happened that I couldn’t possibly remember it all; it’s time to dig in!

Thru-hikers had a bigger presence than ever at the OR Show this year. The bear, well, you had to be there.

Since meeting Teresa Martinez and Peter “Czeck” Sustr of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC) last August at the Summer OR Show and becoming their first Trail Ambassador, it seems as if everything I’m passionate about, everything that I’ve been interested in and doing for years, has led me to this point.

“Do your thing and I will know you.” -Paul Theroux

My buddy Whitney "Allgood" LaRuffa and I represented TurboPUP. (AWESOME PRODUCT!)

My buddy Whitney “Allgood” LaRuffa and I represented TurboPUP at the Summer OR where I met Teresa. (AWESOME PRODUCT!)

Starting the brand hikertrash with Brian Frankle last April has created a lot of opportunities.

We make coozies, trucker hats, shirts, silipints and more. Stuff for hikers.

We make beer coozies, trucker hats, shirts, silipints, and more. Stuff for hikers.

I had been screen printing for 5 years (primarily bikes, but also the hikertrash screen – inspired by my good friend Lint).

When he hiked through on his second PCT thru-hike I printed Lint's backpack.

When he hiked thru on his second PCT thru-hike in 2009 I printed Lint’s backpack.

I got into bikes and formed the company Bike Bend Wear to sell shirts at cyclocross races in Bend and on Etsy.

I had 10 bike designs & one play boat (for Kirk)

When the desk job took over and I was too busy to keep it up, I let the screen printing go for a while, but Brian and I partnered up to make some shirts for the PCT kick-off weekend last year.

My friends SOL & Smooth represented hikertrash at the kick-off last year, and took their friend Stumbling Beef to the CDT. We lost Smooth, and miss him very much.

My friends SOL & Smooth represented hikertrash at the kick-off last year, and took their friend Stumbling Beef to the CDT for his thru-hike. Smooth passed in the mountains late last year, and we miss him very much.

Starting a company was easier than I thought, and before I knew it found myself at PCT Trail Days in September with a brand hikers were recognizing.

I screen printed "hikertrash" on whatever the current PCT hikers wanted. And sold some stuff.

I did a bunch of live screen printing on whatever the current PCT hikers wanted (like this hiker’s thigh) and had a blast.

While hikertrash was gaining steam, I had started freelancing for Ron Moak, founder of Six Moon Designs, who brought me on as his media manager last summer (check out Ron and Brian’s new line of packs…two great minds in the light-weight backpacking industry collaborating together).

Here is Ron at the OR Show buying the triple crown of blankets by Wool

Here is Ron at the OR Show buying the triple crown of blankets created by Woolrich especially to support the three long trails.

The new business and partnership with the well-known gear company has quickly led me to the sweet spot of the brand/product side of the outdoor industry. After already trying to make a living from guiding, leading trail crews, working in wilderness therapy, teaching and working logistics, it seemed an incredibly natural fit to now be writing and designing for the outdoor industry.

When Teresa asked if I wanted to attend the Winter OR Show with them to represent the CDTC and help them form new partnerships and bring awareness to my hike and the incredible things happening on the trail I couldn’t say no, besides some of my best hikertrash friends would be there. Done!

Next up: the show! Stay tuned for more this week….

Transformation as Inspiration

Posted on January 15, 2015 by sheraaaa

What 2015 really means.

The new year, as I expressed in one of my last blog posts, isn’t just about hiking the Continental Divide Trail in 2015, it’s part of a progression I have come to see as normal. Work, hike, study, hike, work, hike, work, work, work, hike, hike.

Yes, my resume to some seems scattered and patchy…and some might see that as flighty and unreliable…but if you ask me, everything I’ve done since college has had a logical progress based on what I’m passionate about.

Like working with the teachers in my village of Zogore, Burkina Faso, during the two years of my Peace Corps service to paint world maps at the schools.

Or getting a masters degree in England in design. Why not! Knowledge!

And leading backcountry trail crews in Colorado.

And helping 3 backpackers lighten up in backpacking class I taught at Portland Community College (hiking part of the Oregon Coast Trail was part of the class!)

Summed up? new experiences, creativity, knowledge, wilderness, optimism, people, passion.

And seeking that has taken different forms: long distance hiking, writing, design, travel, volunteerism, graduate school, real jobs.

But at the core of my progression from Peace Corps to hiking to museum work to grad school to a design job, back to hiking, trail crew, hiking, wilderness therapy, hiking and now a sweet job as the editor of a local arts magazine (and then some more hiking), has been that quest to learn something new, to see a new place, and have a new experience; it has always been a progression.