The Devil Is in the Detours
You might think a walk across the state would be a straight line, or near enough, but the reality is quite different; this walk has been a patchwork of trails riddled with detours. Some of those detours were personal (injury) and some technical (here’s looking at you, broken cart), but the further east I travel,…
Pork at a Walking Pace
The other day, Rod said, “I love that you had already bookmarked every taco place in town, and have been aggressively prosecuting your taco agenda since the moment we got here,” and, honestly, I’ve never felt more seen. Othello is a town comprised of a small handful of farm and ranch owners and a whole…
Between Inexperience and Wisdom
Some milestones are big and some are small and some don’t look or feel like milestones at all. This milestone was a river and a bridge and a bridge that wasn’t. At walking mile 340 of my journey, I arrived at the shores of the Columbia River in Vantage, Washington. It should have felt like…
A Chronological Oddity
I am back on the trail! My return was delayed first by challenges sourcing repair parts for the cart, then again by car repairs. The cart remains broken. Parts are on order, but with the increasing difficulty of the trail as it traverses Eastern Washington, and the availability of a suport vehicle, it seemed silly…
A Clean Break
Three miles west of Lake Easton, the landscape abruptly changes. There is a clear line, west of which the trees are tall and lush, mixed deciduous and pine, and east of which the trees– all pines– are short and evenly spaced, sprouting from pale, soft dust that smells of hot sap. Seconds before I realized…
Simple Things
I slept in until seven. I picked huckleberries and made huckleberry pancakes. I swam in a lake! I ate a cheeseburger and read a book. I rested for a day. Lake Easton, July 13, 2020.
The Struggle Bus Delivers
The Struggle Bus may be no fun to ride, but it provides excellent trailside service. I’d walked 4 miles on the road out of North Bend, when the Struggle Bus overtook me with hot cocoa and fresh raspberries. At the top of Snoqualmie Pass, the Bus met me with a cheeseburger and rootbeer. It also…
Poets Must Ride Bicycles
Over the past three days, I have slackpacked 40 miles from Seattle to North Bend, on the I-90 Trail, the Mountains to Sound Greenway, the East Lake Sammamish trail, the Issiaquah-Preston trail, and the Preston-Snoqualmie trail. Much of the trail is lush and green, though nearly all of it is paved and near enough Interstate…
Proving Foresight May Be Vain
Bodies are weird and unpredictable. On our second day of walking, I started to have jaw and neck discomfort. At first, I attributed it to allergy-related sinus pressure. As we walked on and the pressure grew to pain, I began to fear a tooth abscess. On our final day of walking before reaching home in…
A Life You Love Beside You
Rod and I seem to be walking two different caminos. Mine is pleasantly challenging and filled with firsts and discovery, while Rod’s is painful and exhausting. So, how did I get so lucky and how did Rod get on the struggle bus? Shoes. As every through-hiker and long-distance walker knows, shoe choice is tantamount to…
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The Department of Wander 