267.7 Miles Hiked and Run and $10,092 Raised!

It was another great Hike-a-thon!

Wow! As usual, come September 1st I am physically and emotionally drained after putting in some decent 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 contributed 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 craziness of the world 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. This March I went off of prednisone after taking it for 3 years! So far so good-no flare ups! And while this was not my best hike-a-thon in terms of mileage (blame it on doing the 41-mile Timberline Trail as an Ultra run a few days before Hike-a-thon—and a couple of family vacations doing other activities), I was still able to put some incredibly intense days on the trail. And I committed to and completed spending time on the trail for all 31 days in the month!

And you my wonderful friends and readers once again came through and opened up your wallets and made generous donations. And like last year I really had to work it the last week to make my $10,000 fundraising goal. But we did it and this marks four years in a row now that we have raised more than $10,000 for our trails! Thank you! You all rock!

My hiking/running highlights this hike-a-thon included five days of hikes on BC’s Vancouver Island—and Strathcona Provincial Park. Also got to return to BC’s Golden Ears Park. Made it to Copper Lake in North Cascades National Park and did some great runs in the Henry M Jackson Wilderness and on the Ferry County Rail Trail. Hiked the Kettle River Range too. But every day was grand even when I was hitting local trails near my home in Skagit County. Time on the trail is always time well spent!

And this whole process has once again recharged me and has given me reasons to stay hopeful while the outside world remains gloomy. I hope you too consider setting some goals for a greater good for yourself and community. It will help you stay positive and focused—and 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 congrats to the following drawing winners:

Oboz Footwear goes to Alli Kingfisher

Altra Trail shoes (thanks to Browns Outdoors) goes to Tim Manns

And the winner of my NEW Day Hiking Columbia River Gorge 2nd edition is Gregory Barnes

And thanks to the 91 of you who donated!

If you qualified for a free Green Trails Map, you will soon be getting an email with your map choices!

 

 

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