300.5 Miles Hiked and Run and $10,124 Raised

Top row left to right: Iona Park, BC, Rockingham Recreation Trail, NH, Mount Seymour BC, Clydes Pond, NH, Jade Lake, BC Middle row left to right: Mount Revelstoke BC, Salmon Arm BC, Abbott Ridge, BC, Image Lake, WA, Eva Lake, BC Bottom Row left to right: Miller Lake, BC, Miners Ridge LO WA, Pemi Loop Appalachian Trail NH, Cypress Proviccial Park, BC

It was another great Hike-a-thon!

Miles on BC’s Hollyburn Mountain

Wow! I’m always so physically and emotionally drained come September 1 after putting some serious miles on the trail in August and spending two months trying to convince you all why you should make a donation to my Hike-a-thon benefiting the Washington Trails Association. Since 2012 I have participated in Washington Trails Association’s annual Hike-a-thon as a way to have a little fun and help give back to the trails that have enhanced my life and contribute to my career. And trails have not only helped me with my livelihood as a guidebook author and outdoors writer, but as a refuge from the previous pandemic’s fallout, political rancor, inflation, despair, and my own personal challenges.

Since being diagnosed with PMR in 2020 during a time when I was questioning if my best days were over—I have been managing my condition (through medication, diet, and intense physical activity) as best I can and trying to do as much as I can realizing that tomorrow may bring an end. I continue to push myself and set new goals. And while this was not my best hike-a-thon in terms of mileage, I was able to put some incredibly intense days on the trail as part of my training for my upcoming challenge. In June I committed to run my first 100K (62 miles) race as a way to celebrate turning 62. So my 62 for 62 challenge has been my recent focus and hike-a-thon fit in nicely. I have run four challenging 50Ks in the previous 2 months and hope to do one more before my big race day on October 7^th.

And you my wonderful friends and readers once again came through and opened up your wallets and made generous donations. Donations came in a little slower this year and I really had to work it the last week in which nearly $3000 came in helping me once again make my $10,000 fundraising goal. This marks three years in a row that we have raised more than $10,000 for our trails! Thank you! You all rock!

Me and Miles on the Windham (NH) Rail Trail, a gem in the town I grew up

This year’s hike-a-thon was a little different for me too in which I spent half my time on the trail not in Washington! I’ve been working on a book in British Columbia this year so Miles (the marmot mascot) and I put some serious kilometers in there as well as back in my home state of New Hampshire. And my three biggest trail highlights of the month cover all three of my favorite places to hike (only California is missing from this list—but that is where I am doing my 100K next month!). My highlights include four days of hikes in BC’s Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, the incredibly challenging Pemi Loop in NH’s White Mountains in one day, and Image Lake and Miners Ridge in the heart of the Glacier Peak Wilderness in one day. Those were my highlight days. But every day was grand whether I was hitting the trail near my home in Skagit County or near my home where I grew up in southern New Hampshire. Time on the trail is always time well spent!

Miles packing the bear spray for our hikes in grizzly county in BC’s Columbia Mountains

And this whole process has once again recharged me and has given me reasons to stay hopeful while the outside world remains gloomy. I empathize with my fellow hikers and runners who are stressed, anxious, and depressed. These are indeed challenging times. I hope you consider setting some goals for a greater good for yourself and community. It will help you stay positive and focused. We will persevere —and I believe that ultimately it will make us better people.

So a big thanks to all of you who donated to my hike-a-thon, accompanied me on the trail, and provided support. And a big thanks once again to Oboz Footwear, Brown’s Outdoors in Port Angeles, and Green Trails Maps for their generous donations of great gear that I was able to give away to help motivate you all to donate! And a big thanks to my fellow talented guidebook author friends, Stephen Huy, Adam Sawyer, Bryan Schaeffer, Brandon Fralic, Rachel Wood and Matt Reeder for donating some of your books as donation incentives. I hope many of my readers have discovered the great work that you all do. And thanks too to John D’Onofrio of Adventures Northwest magazine for donating a backcountry cook set as a donation incentive!

And congrats to the following drawing winners:

Oboz Footwear goes to Megan Austin!

Altra Trail shoes (thanks to Browns Outdoors) goes to Eric Quinn!

And the person who will get to appear in one of my future guidebooks is Tim Mahoney

I am looking forward to spending some trail time with you!

And thanks to the 124 of you who donated!

1. Stephanie Blakey
2. Anonymous
3. Sylvia Stanley
4. Joan Amero
5. Mary Fulton Campbell
6. Megan Austin
7. Judy Grandstrand
8. Warren Scott
9. Keri Sprenger
10. Liz McNett Crowl
11. Dean Wingfield
12. Sandi Hill
13. Leah O’Brien
14. Julie Love
15. Doug and Susan DuBois
16. Shannon Weldy
17. Vanessa Stanley
18. Aleta Mueller
19. Jennifer Bradwin
20. Gregory Barnes
21. Ed Ledger
22. Becky Hendrick
23. Genevie Roguski
24. Mary Rolfe
25. Jodi Broughton
26. Bob Wismer
27. Ute Collins
28. Virginia Scott
29. Freda Sherburne
30. Eric Quinn
31. Clark Allworth
32. Chuck Nordhoff
33. Anonymous
34. Anonymous
35. Ben Bergstrom
36. Timothy Manns
37. Marlene Groening
38. Megan Thompson
39. Carl and Candy Berner
40. Alyssa Jones
41. Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs
42. Scotty Railton
43. Mary Beth McNair
44. Kristen Simerson
45. Mark Kenney
46. Petra Wilkenson
47. Jonathan Rogers
48. Michelle Haffner
49. Judy Romano
50. Di Hoffman
51. Marylyn Perkins
52. Jennifer Coleman
53. Bret Wirta
54. Kim Carson
55. Robert Shirk
56. Beth Liddell
57. Vicky de Monterey Richoux
58. John and Marie Erbstoeszer
59. Bryan Blount
60. Greg Myrick
61. Theresa Northcutt
62. Tom and Barb Irvine
63. Dana Kellison
64. Bruce Burger
65. Ann Taft
66. Skagit Runners
67. Laurie Jarolimek
68. Joan Durgin
69. Charles Howell
70. Hon-Wah Chan
71. Anonymous
72. Christy Smith
73. Craig Sosey
74. John Hale
75. Helen Robinson
76. Elyse Verstelle
77. Steven Yee
78. Jane Reynolds
79. Kelly Woolms
80. Kerry Lowry
81. Rod Sawyer
82. Wendy Wall
83. Linda Shigaki
84. Krista Hudson
85. Anonymous
86. Avra Cohen
87. Kristine Bitnes
88. Ginger Oppenheimer
89. Pam Crooks
90. Scott Wingate
91. Jodi Brautaset
92. Jan Hersey
93. Kimberly Scott
94. Reshma Patel
95. Anonymous
96. Catherine Lanning
97. Donna Ellenz
98. Austin Smith
99. Douglas Romano
100. Xabdra Copp
101. Ali Kingfisher
102. Peter Sonne
103. Anonymous
104. Anonymous
105. Crystal Gartner
106. Vicky de Monterey Richoux
107. Anonymous
108. Christine Smith
109. Tim Mahoney
110. Krista Chenoweth
111. Anonymous
112. Judith Roberts
113. Anonymous
114. Emily Graaf
115. Danielle Daskam
116. Erica Baker
117. Anonymous
118. Terry Wood
119. Rob Casey
120. Cheryl Perry
121. Katie McNett
122. Laura Spehar
123. Sallie Herling
124. Andrew Kelley

Thanks again and see you on the trail!!

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