Exactly eight years ago now John and I reached the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail. During this nearly 2600-mile journey, John carried a custom GPS unit to record, step by step, the location of the trail for a project called the “half-mile project.” Today I went into my Forest Measurements class at Duke University where I am working hard to earn my Master of Forestry degree and learned about how to collect GPS data in the field to make maps. Who would have guessed I’d be learning this stuff formally at graduate school?
In the eight years since we finished the trail, the GPS track that John and others collected along the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014 has now been used to create the official National Geographic maps of the trail from Canada to Mexico. Meanwhile, some of my writing from when we hiked is now in a book called Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader which was published to raise money for the PCTA.
After we finished the PCT, we became hiking guides and gear testers. My blog and our social media accounts received enough of a following that we have gotten sponsored on subsequent hikes, and requests from companies to try their gear. Most recently, we were contacted by Kuhl to try some of their hiking pants, which we decided was worth the effort of putting a link in our blog to receive some free gear. I never buy pants online because they never fit but was shocked when the pair that arrived actually fit me and seemed rather durable. So, if you’re interested, here’s the link. John was also impressed with the ones he ordered, so here’s the link to those too.
So here I am, in my new hiking pants, wishing I had them earlier since they would have been useful for the field work I did with the USFS over the summer. Graduate school is no joke, and I finally feel as though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m ready to find a job in the Asheville area when I graduate in just over half a year. During this time, John is working as an environmental consultant in Durham and is hopeful that he can bring his job back to Asheville when we move back. He is also working with local trail maintainers to help with the Mountains to Sea Trail which runs the length of North Carolina and goes through the Durham area. He has adopted a section of trail and has been volunteering on other sections of trail with local crews. Next weekend we will both become chainsaw certified (as long as the class doesn’t get rained out).
I certainly would not have guessed were we would wind up eight years after hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Any guesses what we’ll get up to in the eight years after graduate school? I’m excited to find out!
Just Two Hikers 
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