Excuse me while I flap away the cloud of dust that has formed on both this blog and my writing muscles. As of my last post, I had 990.1 miles under my belt and a fractured left elbow. Fast forward to 2019, and mannnny things have changed. I can now do 12lb bicep curls (this is an improvement from not being allowed to hold anything heavier than a pencil) and dozens of wall push-ups on my completely healed, though slightly wonky, left elbow. I now live in Oakland, CA, with 3 cats and a wonderful partner who amazes me on a daily basis.

I am also about two weeks away from heading back out on the AT to finish what I started in 2017. Before I begin posting about this year’s 1,200 mile hike, I would like to finish chronicling the events from my 2017 thru-hiking attempt, partially to complete the story for those of you who followed along at the time, and partially because I want a complete account for myself.

Stay tuned for more posts about the adventures of 2017 Checklist, the highlights of which include hiking with a broken elbow! flying across the country with two cats and my person! becoming emotionally and professionally adrift when an ankle/foot injury kept me from going back out on the trail in 2018, and more! I’m not sure how much I can manage to cover while also doing the inevitable scramble to finish prepping for this year’s hike, but I will do my best.

Today’s picture: the French Trail in Redwood Regional Park during a hike with my mom back in February