On my thru-hike, I planned to be on the trail for 17 to 18 days, so I needed to plan accordingly. The hardest part is not over packing, really thinking about what you’ll need and what you’ll want to eat.

As I got more into hiking, I finally stopped stealing my brother’s toe socks, got my own, started learning about the benefits like blister prevention, total foot utilization, and moisture management, and learned about the different fabrics. Now I can’t imagine wearing anything else for hiking.

Once in your tent, you can even hang up the lantern to have light so you can read and relax before going to bed. And in the morning, she deflated the lantern, hooked it on her pack, and charged it while we hiked.

Ticks can be dangerous, but don’t be afraid to get outdoors because of them! There are ways to protect yourself and your pets! Through my experience with ticks, I’ve educated myself on how to get outdoors safely.

I was in paradise but I couldn’t enjoy the place as much as I wanted to because of my horrible blisters. I have a couple of pain points that consistently get them, around my heel and on my big toe. Looking back, I wish I knew more about how to prevent them when I went, it would have made the whole experience more enjoyable overall.

Since Sequoia was a puppy, she’s been very prone to ticks. A month after I adopted her, I pulled 14 ticks off of her in one day. From there, I quickly learned about how to prevent ticks on her and how to pull them out correctly.

It’s always scary pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, but I believe that it’s always worth it. It shows me my strengths, makes me into the person I want to be and helps me learn more about myself along the journey. I try to not let fear hold me back.

Like most, I've struggled with bad knee pain on the trail, especially the steep downhill sections. After much research and talking to doctors on what to do about my knee pain, how to prevent it and how to deal with it on the trail, here is what works for me.