2024 was quite a whirlwind for me, especially in terms of terrain, locations, and variety. I guess I could call it a Hiking Sandwich, with paddling trips serving as the bread. In short, I rafted the Grand Canyon, thru-hiked 2 shorter trails (BMT/Foothills Trail) on the east coast, went to AT Trail Days, hiked half of the Great Divide Trail in Canada, was forced off the trail by wildfires, then went on a wild and unplanned hiking spree in the Tetons, Gros Ventre, Winds, Sawtooths, and Uintas. In September, I hiked 16 14ers in Colorado, bringing my total over 40. I wrapped up the year revisiting some of the special places along the Hayduke in Utah and Arizona, followed by some paddling trips in the Everglades and Ten Thousand Islands, FL.
I already posted summaries for the Grand Canyon, BMT and FHT adventures, but not for the GDT and other hikes, so this post will go into some of those details. I keep track of such things not because I think anyone cares or is actually reading this, but rather for my own record keeping. But if you also find it interesting, that’s great, thanks! and read on!
Total Hiked in 2024 (including tourist trips to AZ and UT…not perfectly exact count): 1,350 miles. (My Garmin watch reported about 1,700 miles, based on step counts, included every day life things, so I’m going with the lower figure). This brings my total hiking since 2017 to just shy of 19,000 miles (18,900). I guess at this point I might as well try for 25K, which is roughly the circumference of the earth…only a few more trails to go!
Grand Canyon Distance Paddled/Floated: 226 miles
Grand Canyon Distance Hiked: 30 miles
BMT Distance hiked: 299 miles
FHT Distance hiked: 77 miles
Summer Hiking Details and Dates: July 3rd through September 20th, 2024
Total Distance Hiked (summer/fall): 900 miles
GDT Distance Hiked: 347 miles
Section Hikes Distance: 347 miles
14er Distance Hiked: 126 miles
Utah Bonus Trip Distance Hiked: 80 miles
Duration Total: 55 days of hiking
Days hiking the GDT: 22 (including 1 zero)
Days hiking in Wyoming: 17
Days hiking in Idaho: 2
Days hiking in Utah: 4 on the UHT (plus 2 weeks of day hikes during tourist visit in November)
Days hiking in Colorado: 10
Days hiking 15 miles or less: 29
Days hiking 15-25 miles: 24
Days hiking 25-35 miles: 4
Longest day: 28 miles
Shortest day: 3 miles
Biggest elevation gain / loss in one day: Barnaby ridge and some 14ers (around 7,500′)
Highpoint GDT: Northover Ridge 9,085′
Highpoint Wyoming: Kagevah Peak 12,156′ (Wind River Range)
Highpoint Utah: King’s Peak 13,528′ (Uintas, also official Highpoint of Utah)
Highpoint Colorado: La Plata Peak 14,344′
Peak Bagging: Kagevah Peak, Kings Peak, Mt Sherman, Castle & Conundrum Peaks, La Plata Peak, Huron Peak, Mt Belford, Mt Oxford & Missouri Mountain, Mt Princeton, Mt Holy Cross, Redcloud, Sunshine & Handies Peaks, Wetterhorn & Uncompahgre Peaks, Mt Sneffels.
Favorite Days: Barnaby Ridge, Northover Ridge, Teton Crest Day 2, Alpine Lakes WRHR, Kings Peak Birthday hike, Redcloud, Sunshine, Handies, Wetterhorn and Uncompahgre.
Least-Favorite Day: Last day on the GDT
National Parks hiked in/through: Waterton, Banff, Kootenay, Yoho, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Grand Canyon.
Wilderness Areas: Gros Ventre, Jedediah, Sawtooths, Uintas, Holly Cross, Uncompahgre. (more I didn’t bother to look up).
Nights tenting on or near trail: 38
Nights tenting in a city park (Pinedale, 2), campground (2), along a road or trailhead (3), outside a hostel (Luna’s East Glacier, 2) or Trail Angel’s backyard (1)
Nights sleeping in rental car: 15
Nights in a hotel: 8 (4 of which were thanks to Woody’s Mom!)
Nights camping alone or with only 1 or 2 others: 32
Days seeing no other people (aside from fellow GDT hikers): 5
People I hiked with: Woody, Vince, Georgie, Alex, Helena, Ricky Bobby, Strider, Michelle, Jan, Tigger, Alan, Rockin.
Towns/resupply points visited, in order: Waterton, Coleman, Boulton Creek, Sunshine Ski Resort, Golden, Calgary, East Glacier, West Yellowstone, Old Faithful, Jackson Hole, Pinedale, Logan, Salt Lake City, Vernal, Denver, Leadville, Salida, Buena Vista, Lake City.
Resupply parcels mailed/handed off: 4/1 (Boulton Creek, Golden, Sas Crossing Resort (abandoned to another hiker), Jasper (lost in fire) / 1 box given to shuttle driver to take to Coleman.
Longest food carry: WRHR 6.5 days
Longest I went without a hot shower: 6 days
Precipitation on the trail: heavy rain first day on the GDT, about 3 days with quickly passing showers. Quick passing showers on TCT and Gros Ventre. Lots of rain and hail on the WRHR, some thunder. Heavy rain first day on the UHT. Typical afternoon thunderstorms in CO.
Campfires enjoyed: 1–Window Mountain Lake on the GDT…we grilled meat with grizzlys wondering around nearby!
Injuries: 3x dislocated right shoulder (Gros Ventre, WRHR, and Spooky Slot Canyon in Utah), all stemming from 1st dislocation in Matkat Canyon on the Grand Canyon paddling trip. 2 episodes were caused by me simply putting my trekking pole out to catch myself when a rock rolled under me….not good! Lots of scrapes and bruises on the WRHR, particularly from the Alpine Lakes section.
Times I wished I carried a gun: 0
When I carried bear spray: All of the GDT, none for the rest
Animals seen or heard: several black bears (Canada, WY, CO), 1 grizzly, moose, bighorn sheep, mule deer, mountain goats, eagles, ospreys, owls, possibly a wolf (recent releases in the Holly Cross wilderness), coyotes.
Pettings (a rather boring year for this): dogs, horses, mules
Gear: My gear was similar to what I carried on many hikes before, so I didn’t post a gear list. I did incorporate a few new items: a Zpacks Plex Solo tent, a Hyperlite Waypoint backpack, a Hyperlite Umbrella, and Montbell ultralight (3 oz) wind pants. I was very happy with all these changes. The tent kept me dry through some very wet nights and the umbrella through a few downpours. I think the vents on the umbrella helped make it more capable in high winds. I was also very happy that I sprayed my tent and clothes with permethrin before I left. I think this made a huge difference in my battle against mosquitos. I also appreciated having my lightweight Montbell wind pants as a bug barrier and so too for some cool days. The pack felt wonderful the whole time…it may be my favorite pack yet.
Lastly, I used my Katabatic 30 degree Palisade quilt the whole summer, but it was getting too cold for it by September. Luckily I was able to borrow a 50 degree EE Apex quilt from Woody, which I used as a top quilt over my other quilt in the Uintas and Colorado. I purchased the same quilt for myself during EE’s Black Friday sale…it’s just nice to be able to add some extra insulation in a pinch and it also works well as a stand-alone quilt in Florida. I really like it!
Shoes: 1 pr Altra Superior 3.5 and 1 pr Saucony Peregrine ST
Least used items: I only used my rain skirt a few times…but it weighs less than 2 ounces.
Gear lost/failures: my Thermarest Neoair Xlite sprung a leak at the very end of the trip, otherwise nothing major. The leak came from the seam near the value (not because of a puncture), which I contend is a manufacturing defect. I filed a warranty claim and never heard a peep back from customer service. I had several Uberlites de-laminate and they always responded quickly to those claims, so I’m not sure what’s up with Cascade Designs these days. Maybe I used up my allowable claims already.
Trail Angels and Trail Magic: First, thanks goes to Woody and his mom for offering me a free stay for 4 nights in the Marriott in Calgary (downtown and at the airport). These were the nicest hotel rooms I’ve stayed in for a long time! I was very grateful for these refuges, especially after we had to retreat from Golden late at night, same day that we got off the trail for the fires. Also a huge thanks to Woody for planning so much of the trip. He did so much work for the permits and hotel reservations, it was such a shame that we had to cancel so many of them. Thanks to Chantel our shuttle driver, who delivered us from Calgary to Waterton right on time and who also graciously stored our boxes for pick up in Coleman. Thank you to Nicole Sharpe for also taking care of ALL the hikers’ resupply boxes and hosting a huge hiker feed at Boutlon Creek…perhaps the best one I’ve ever been to, and certainly the most fun.
Thanks to Lisa Chow, Will and Luna, and a handful of spur of the moment hitches that all played a role in getting me from Calgary to the Tetons…that is a HUGE distance! Lisa really went out of her way to get us across the border, probably the farthest a Trail Angel has ever given me a ride…aside from my friend Jon. She was so kind and amazing.
The same can be said of Paul W, who gave us a ride from Pinedale to the Big Sandy Trailhead. It was great to meet him and to hear his local knowledge about Pinedale. Also thanks all the random strangers that stepped up to gives us rides all around Pinedale, especially Erin, a lady that gave us a ride back to Jackson Hole and then let us camp in her backyard. I didn’t mention her in my posts, but she was so great. We even went on a tourist drive around Jackson Hole and the Tetons, going swimming in the lakes and drinking festive beverages all afternoon.
Speaking of Jackson hole, another de-facto TA was Tigger, who drove us around so we could camp outside of the expensive town and then drove us to Granite Hot Springs. Thanks so much Tigger! He also let us use his hotel room in Pinedale to sneak in a quick shower. Perhaps the best ride of all was on a raft, heading towards Green River Lakes. I’ve gotten several hitches on rafts and boats before, but never on one being towed down the road. Sketchy, perhaps, but a lot of fun since it worked out.
Onto Utah, Woody let me crash at his place in Logan for several days and drove his brand new Taco all the way to Idaho to hike in the Sawtooths. He also picked me up and dropped me off at various shuttle points in between. Much in part thanks to him, I finally got to hike the Uinta Highline Trail. Kelly “Chaps” was a real hero in letting me crash the night on her floor and driving me to the Leidy Peak trailhead, outside of Vernal. This solved all my problems in beginning the UHT. Then Christy “Rockin” unexpectedly became my bestie trail companion and ride from the end of the trail. Thanks to her, I didn’t end up hiking even 1 trail this summer alone.
Hitches/Ride-offers: over 30
Hiker Reunions on Trail: Woody (Hayduke), Georgie and Vince Strawbridge (PCT18), Alex (PCT23), Costanza (PNT/PCT23), Coyote. Plus a ton of people at Billy Goat Days, AT Trail Days, and SOBO CDT Dayz.
In summary, thanks to so many that made 2024 such an amazing year. I think perhaps this was the most social summer and set of trails I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing, and for that I am grateful. Most of this year wasn’t even planned, so it amazes me to look back on it now, realizing all the things that took place.
It’s been hard going into 2025, trying to imagine and plan even half the magic that’s taken place in the years prior. I worry I’m running out of steam, and certainly ideas for new trails. Always is the worry of just plain running out of money, as life gets more and more expensive. I once thought my savings might be enough, but with everything costing twice and 3x as much just in the past 4 years, I think I may need to go back to work full time again soon…if I could just figure out what that entails for my set of (or lack of) skills.
Full disclosure here: unlike many others that have managed to leverage their content, it might surprise readers to learn I’ve never earned a dime from this blog, social media posts, or for speaking. I’m not sponsored by any companies, though I do get the occasional discount or free piece of gear for a review (same as everyone else that manages to pull a few strings). I’ve learned that the monetary side of this game has little to do with experience, knowledge and accomplishments, but rather everything to do with personality and good looks…and of course certain loads of content (YouTube, reels, TikTok). Since I’ve never been good at or interested in such popularity contests, I’d prefer to just keep hiking and writing for the love I have for landscapes and nature, sharing these at no cost to others.
Perhaps most frustratingly, even in trying to share freely, there are others that take advantage. I’ve seen my pictures appearing in various ads, blogs and other such profit-seeking venues. I presume the pictures were simply stolen from this site or Instagram, and used without my consent (with the exception of Mandy at Purplerain Adventures Skirts, who I happily provided pictures, as well as various trail organizations’ photo contests I entered and consented to the use my photos…PCTA, Green Mountain Club and GDTA).
I guess it’s my own fault for not being more aggressive in protecting my content (like marking my photos and posting disclaimers everywhere), but at the same time, I also just want to keep things simple, independent, self-reliant, and not be beholden to anyone or anything. I like having my own blog, even though I know NO ONE reads anything anymore. Social media is one of our many downfalls and I hate the changes it’s brought about on the trail. But I still dabble in the game, I guess simply because I like sharing. I’ve been debating whether I’ll keep maintaining this blog in years to come, so I guess the events of 2025 and time will tell.
Enjoy this last series of photos from Utah. And no, companies are not entitled to steal and repost my photos for their own profiting. But it you’d like to reach out offering compensation for my work, I’m all ears.
