August 5, 2023 ~3 miles hiked Without an alarm, I wake up around 8. The sun is filtering through the trees and warming up my tent so pleasantly. Ahh. Sleeping in. When I pop my head out I can see that Carrot and Chelsea are sitting on the gravel bar around a fire in the …
Continue reading Brooks Range Day 7: Morning Fire, Afternoon Meander
August 4, 2023 ~10 miles hiked It’s town day! Town day! The energy is decidedly excellent this morning even if the packing up of wet sandy tents is not. It feels exactly like a short nero into town along a long-distance trail. We follow the gravel in the river until we spot the ATV track …
August 3, 2023 ~14 miles Our starts are creeping progressively earlier every day. Today my 5:15 alarm wakes me up mid-dream, open-mouthed and drooling. I can’t locate my phone and I’m so confused. Finally I find it, struggle very hard with the temptation to just go back to sleep, and force myself up. Hello! It’s …
Continue reading Brooks Range Day 5: In the Land of Cloudberries
August 2, 2023 ~10 miles hiked Since I put off going outside to pee last night for so long, I wake up pretty early and decide to just do that and get my bear bag at the same time. I have what feels like all the time in the world to have breakfast and wake …
August 1, 2023 ~12 miles Another chill morning, another day when we leave slightly later than planned, but hey ho, we’re doing the thing. I have my breakfast and coffee and then pack up and have a little cathole moment and I’m ready to go! We walk downhill towards the huge bog at the floor …
July 31, 2023 ~8 miles I dream that my best friend picks me up from the Brooks Range and takes me to Poundland, the UK equivalent of Dollar Tree. There I buy everything I’m missing on this trip and am angry at myself for forgetting: waterproof gloves, long pants, an extra set of leggings, sleep …
July 30, 2023 ~8 miles hiked I think I developed some sort of negative association with being the last to get ready in the morning on the PCT. This morning, I wake up and think I have all the time in the world because everyone else is still in their tents, but somewhere along the …
Continue reading Brooks Range Day 1: Wildflower Heaven and Wet Talus Hell
July 29, 2023 ~3.5 miles hiked I sleep all the way through the night and my eyes pop open when people start moving. I already feel so much more rested than yesterday and I am relieved. I enter then kitchen where once again Gahl and Carrot are bustling about. Carrot asks me again, and just …
2 AM and the sky in Fairbanks is a soupy dusk. We’re driving through rolling land of stunted-looking spruce and aspen as far as the eye can see, the boreal forest, which Carrot is describing as “sometimes shitty looking but magical.” At least I think that’s what she called it. I’m exhausted and confused with …
Friday, July 7, 2023 In reality, the clouds that I use to justify my decision not to hike Ben Nevis today are probably very temporary, and indeed later in the day they part and reveal a perfect morning, but the fact is that when I wake up, I simply to not feel like hiking. So …
Continue reading Ireland and UK Day 17: The Jacobite Train and Post-WHW Reflections
Sarahmarie Specht-Bird 