Hey! My name is Rachel! I’m a fairly tall, twenty-something, CU Boulder alumna (December 2017, SKO BUFFS) who loves to hike, explore, and grow. This blog will serve to share my adventures, thoughts, ideas, musings, questions, etc. Without further ado, here’s what’s going on right now:
June 2019, A Birthday and a Trail
I’m hiking the Colorado Trail (CT)! I’m pretty excited. A little scared. And somewhat worried it’s not more of the latter. The current plan is to start on June 1, which means I will turn 25 while I’m in the thick of things.
You might wonder why I’m willing to walk 500 miles from Denver to Durango. The truest possible answer to such a complicated question is “because I can” or “because I want to.” I could also tell you that this is possibly the best time in my adult life thus far to undertake such a monumental task. At no other point as an adult have I felt the freedom to disappear into the mountainous horizon.
I’ve thought so many aspects of this trip through and asked a lot of questions of my dad, Bill, who hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail back in 1972. The plan is to do the CT with him this year.
What’s the goal?
I will likely get more out of this trip than I think I will. And I am positive I have yet to think of all the possibilities. My goals will be evolving with me as I navigate each mountain range and learn more about the realities of thru-hiking. That being said, I have some general ideas:
- The biggest thing I wanted to do this year is to write more in general. That’s why I started this blog to track my upcoming adventures! I’m hoping to use this platform as a “journal” of sorts.
- And on that note, I want to be as vulnerable and honest about this experience as I can be. I’m lucky enough to take this trip, and I want to share what I learn.
- Bragging rights. I’m sure this is a given for a lot of people and probably doesn’t need to be stated. I literally want to be able to wake up in the morning when it’s all said and done and be able to say “yeah, I freaking did that!”
- While I’ll be able to say I did this trail, perhaps the biggest goal of all is to enjoy it and to be present. I get to walk on trails I’ve never explored before. I get to experience thru-hiking in all its glory. I get to feel the extremes of agony and joy. Most of all, I get to ground myself squarely in the present moment each and every day.
I’m most excited about this trip because I know I can do it. It’s ambitious. It’s bold. And it’s the kind of challenge I have yet to face in my life. While I will gain a ton of elevation on this trail, the CT will not be as technically challenging as the 14ers I am used to. Instead, it will require a different set of skills altogether. Most importantly, it will require Relentless Forward Motion. No matter what, I know I will finish if I can keep putting one foot in front of the other.