Thursday, November 18, 2010

One Year Later...

Are you kidding me? I just realized that today is the one year anniversary of my completion of the Continental Divide Trail. I guess I am now a 'has been' in the thru-hiker world of the CDT. Ugh! Nonetheless, I have been reflecting on my life over the last year, and mulling the post-trail dreams that have come to fruition, or have yet to be accomplished. Here are a few of them:

  • My CDT video.  I have 26 hours of footage that I have uploaded to a hard drive, so where's the movie that I am supposed to produce?  Well, ummmm... it's not done... Heck, I have not even stitched on clip together.  I did get some footage from So Far three weeks ago, so I guess that I can say it is in progress.  That said, I need to get my butt in gear, and produce the video.  It will be a long, dark winter up here in Portland, and I will have a lot of evening time to work on it.  Until then everyone has to entertain themselves with my collection of videos here.
  • Trail maintenance.  When I was on the trail, I expressed interest in doing trail work when I finished, since I felt that I needed to give back to the trail, and maintained I did!  During the month of July, I joined up with a Northwest Sevice Academy crew at McArthur-Burney Falls State Park in Northern California, where I helped maintain a 3-mile stretch from Peavine Creek to Red Mountain.  I had a great time, and one can read about my adventure here.
  • Print, mount, and display pictures of the CDT.  Since I have little to no expendable income, I have not done that.  However, I sent my best pictures to the Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA) for their photo contest.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that I win.
  • Renew my commitments with the Continental Divide Trail Society and the CDTA.  I will renew memberships in December.
  • See my friends from my hike.  After the hike, I got to spend time with George and Luna in California, and I saw Luna again at ADZPCTKO.  Also at the Kickoff, I spent some time with Toothfairy, and later saw her up at McArthury-Burney Falls State Park when I was doing trail work.  I also spent time with So Far when he visited California, and now I get to see him weekly as I moved here to Portland.  Panda also lives up here in PDX, and I have yet to visit with him now that I am here.  Finally, I got to see Patch down in Tennessee-North Carolina when I did a 70-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail.  I'd say I have done a good job in this category!
  • Build a hikethecdt.com website.  I just bought the domain last week, and I have started to put the site together.  I look to publish the site in the next week, so be on the lookout for it!
  • Hike.  I'd like to get back on the CDT next year.  Where?  I don't know.  It sure would be fun to do a northbound hike starting in southern New Mexico, as I would love to see that state in blossom in the spring, especially the Gila River Wilderness.  However, I did manage to hike several chunks on the PCT this year... about 150-miles.  I also did a 70-mile Sierras loop hike with my friend Wes, a 20-mile hike at Point Reyes National Seashore with my mom, and a 70-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail.  Not bad for an off year.
  • Get more involved.  I continue my service as the Presentation Coordinator for ADZPCTKO, and since I moved to Portland, I am now involved with the Mt. Hood Chapter of the PCTA as a trail volunteer, and as the chapter secretary.  I am also in the works of applying for a job with a certain trail organization that must remain nameless at this time.  Again, keeping my fingers crossed!
There you have it - my post-CDT trail recap of the year.  Here's to another year of living off the trial... Ugh!  Until next time, enjoy this little video from the bone cave in Montana.