I’ve been planning my Pinhoti thru-hike for most of the year, and now it’s not happening.
The Pinhoti Trail has been on my radar since 2022 when Cindy and I visited our Peace Corps friend Richard and spent a rare snowy Alabama afternoon at Cheaha State Park.
I’ve been hiding from the reality that this is not the right time to hike for about a week now…an injury (actually a series of injuries) and the devastating hurricane that battered the East Coast have contributed to this change in plans, and oh how I’ve been resisting all of it!
Fortunately, the Pinhoti Trail has been spared the destruction of hurricane Helene, but the Appalachian Trail has not. A full third of the trail is now closed, and it could take a looooong time for a full recovery. There are many ways we can help in sending money and support for the communities affected along the East Coast, and I’ll be modifying my fundraiser soon to recognize East Coast recovery efforts along with raising money for the Oregon Trails Coalition.
September has been the hardest month of my life, hands down. The heaviness of this current moment comes from many different aspects of my life…and most of it I am unable to control. I ache for the solace and peace that extended time in nature brings, but what does that look like if I can’t hike?
My body controls my future at this point….I can’t rush the healing, and I can’t let my stubbornness and determination derail my ability to backpack in the future by heading out too soon with full pack weight.
So, I wait, I plan, I come up with backup plans, and backup backup plans. I still have hope I’ll be able to do some hiking in October, but I have to let go of expectations and take each moment as it comes.
After the hike through the Gila, I attended the Continental Divide Trail Coalition’s Trail Days festival in Silver City to host the first of my Intentional Hiking fireside chats.
A big thanks to Silver City Daily Press for covering the evening and capturing some of the sentiment shared by hikers and community members:
Community members and hikers gathered around a campfire Saturday night at the old Silver City Waterworks to discuss building on the sense of community that draws people along the Continental Divide Trail to Grant County in particular.
The Waterworks opened to accommodate CDT hikers for Trail Days, with about 40 tents booked each night for camping.
Veteran hiker and original CDT ambassador Renee Patrick led the discussion focusing on the relationships between hikers and the communities and people along the trail. She is the founder of Intentional Hiking, which offers an online discussion series about various hiking-related themes. One point of discussion was that hikers need to remember to be humble — they are just one of hundreds each year who make the trip from border to border.
Kristy Lopez, owner of Doc Campbell’s Post in Gila Hot Springs, said she tries to give hikers the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes it can be difficult.
“They say, ‘I hiked all the way from Mexico,’” Lopez said. “Two days ago there was a guy that came in, and I said, ‘That’s awesome. So did all the 12 other people on the porch.’”
But hikers have generally been helpful for her family business, she said.
“We wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for hikers sitting down with us and spending time to tell us what they need and what they don’t need,” Lopez said.
“I think we have to be humble and be thankful for what we have access to in the communities. Sometimes we forget that,” said hiker Mike “Just Mike” McClue. “It’s amazing to talk to the local people and understand the history. It’s not just about us.”
Michael Darrow, tribal historian for the Fort Sill Chiricahua Apache Warm Springs Tribe, agreed that hikers should know about the history of the land.
“For us, the whole thing is considered sacred land,” he said of the Gila region. “Historical events took place all along the way, and they were special to people in our tribe. Keep in mind some of the things that have taken place before, and it can have an influence on the way you think, the way you feel as you go through the area.”
Likewise, people in communities should get more involved with the CDT, Raul Turrieta said. Locals have gone to the Gila River and the Gila Wilderness for recreation for years, he said, but hiking has not been a big activity for people who live.
“We need to spend more time on hiking, because they don’t really understand how important the CDT is,” he said. “Next year, I would really like to get involved in stimulating the community and bringing in the Mining District also for them to come out and do a lot of hiking.”
Turrieta said it’s also important for hikers to share their experiences with youth to help them get interested.
Overall, the CDT is about connections, Patrick said, including the physical connection across the continent, connection to nature and connection to each other.
“That’s something that long-distance hiking has really helped me realize, is I’m connected to everything, I’m a part of everything,” she said. “Finding that connection is what’s so unique about what we do. It helps us understand that in a way that’s hard to do when we’re in our walls, roofs and Wi-Fi all the time.”
—JUNO OGLE
Stay tuned…I plan to hold another discussion at PCT Days this August!
She-ra Hikes 