#pctsouthernterminus

[halfwayanywhere]

The last year was an interesting one for me. I spent more months in the United States in 2019 than I have since 2012 and they have not been wasted (that is, so long as walking in the desert and mountains isn't a waste of time). In addition to getting a car and a home base in Sacramento (let's be friends?), I met loads of amazing new people in 2019 and got to spend quality time with old friends as well. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the adventure (but mostly for feeding me and letting me crash on your couch). Make good decisions, friends. 1) In May I went to Greece for the first time where I met @paulinadao - my new creative director 📸: @paulinadao 2) I spent a couple of months back in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - one of my homes away from home and one of my favorite cities in the world (excited to get back here in 2020) 📸:@bernardopercia 3) Hiked through the snow-covered Sierra for the first time (early-season Sierra High Route is in my future) 4) Went stand up paddle boarding down river rapids for the first time with @dylan.h.brown (Colorado) 5) Hung out in Utah with @paulinadao after buying a Subaru Outback to get me to/from the mountains (necessary when spending this much time in the USA) 6) Started the Pacific Crest Trial for the second time and had a much different experience than the first time around in 2013 7) Started delving seriously into rock climbing and got on some ropes in Yosemite (Tuolumne) - much more climbing to come in 2020 📸: @paulinadao 8) Went the opposite of ultralight backpacking and carried a massive, inflatable pegasus/unicorn into the mountains of Colorado 9) Hiked the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier (among others) 10) Took @paulinadao into the Wyoming’s Wind River Range - still so much climbing and hiking to do here (particularly the Wind River High Route) 📸: @paulinadao I’m looking forward to 2020 - hopefully, it’s not the year I (or you) die. Beijos 😘

[halfwayanywhere]

Why am I hiking the #PacificCrestTrail again? Well if you want to get metaphysical about it, I would argue that I am hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for the first time. Both the trail and I have changed dramatically since my first thru-hike and we would probably be nearly unrecognizable to our former selves. The Southern Terminus Monument has even been replaced since I hiked! (And now it faces the other way so that the most glorious US/Mexico border fence is no longer visible in people's photos.) I did all the standard research before my first #PCT hike, but the amount I learned actually on the trail (and since the trail) is many times greater than everything I thought I had learned simply browsing the internets pre-PCT. I'm excited to get out there and see how things have changed since the trail and I first became acquainted (but mostly to try to prove @simajohnr and @itsbleucheese wrong in their assertions that I will hate it and end up getting off after a couple of weeks - I really hope they're wrong). See you all in a month. #PCTSouthernTerminus #Campo #California