Goldilocks and the three attempts

The path that leads here

In August 2023, after Poncho and I completed the Long Trail, Poncho flew home to Boston and I continued my hike on the Appalachian Trail toward Maine. It was on my trail trip with my father’s ashes that I met one of the best long-distance backpackers this century has ever seen. Will Robinson of Vermont. While waiting for the bus in Rutland, Vermont, I was reading Facebook and a post appeared in my feed about a young man named Will Robinson who had just connected the Northeast’s 4,000 mountains on foot, in the form of a hike. Amazing on the spot. I knew at that moment that I wanted to become the first woman to do this. Reading about what Will had just accomplished would once again change the trajectory of my life in what felt like an “instant.” A gift. A chance to be the first woman to do something. In the hiking community that window of opportunity doesn’t come around often. My brain hasn’t been the same since. Hikers walk!

I forgot to check my ego at the door

That winter 2023-2024 I started studying maps and studying a little about nutrition. I checked out some hiking guides from the local Boston Public Library. I took a look at one or two of them. I bought new equipment. I didn’t try my shoes. I paid the price. Zero Drop shoes on untrained feet are hell. I rode that pain train all over Maine. Training for this attempt… ¿??????????????????????????? ¿?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ¿??????????????????????????? ?????? I didn’t even think about training. I just assumed that since I had just finished hiking 2000 miles I would be fine and the trail would “get me in shape”… uhg. I was very wrong. I reached Grafton Notch and left it. It was mental. It was probably physical too, but I refused to admit it at the time. I recorded my effort and posted it on my YouTube channel. I returned home and planned to try this endeavor again the following year, 2025.

Menopause. Yuck.

That fall of 2024, MENOPAUSE hit me with a Mack truck. If you know, you know, I won’t go into details. It 100% affected my 2025 attempt. I didn’t even post any videos on Youtube. It was a long walk but I wasn’t locked in. The training only consisted of ten days in Massachusetts and on the last day I was poisoned by toxic drinking water. I had no energy. No physical motivation. He was NOT suffering as well as he had been able to in the past. Everything affected me. From allergies to people. From wounds to irrational fears. From feeling completely alone to staying awake and being consumed by self-doubt. Some of that can be attributed to perimenopause and the extreme hormonal fluctuations I was experiencing. Getting older hurts!

Tramily is for life

2025 was a wonderful trail experience! I always meet the greatest people in the world. People I will meet and connect with for the rest of my life. The path gives it to you. Something I have learned is that most people in this world They are generally friendly. The world can be hard. The trail reminds me that I too can be kind.

Peg Leg and I crossed paths 3 times! Once in Connecticut and twice in Maine. What a wonderful, beautiful human being! I’m so glad our paths crossed.

Daddy long legs. Future Triple Crowner. Day 1 sister. AT Class of 2025 SOBO.

Daddy Long Legs, Slurpee, Mango. Maine AT2025. Moxie Pond

Trail Mother always knows best

After my 2025 attempt, I came home and cried in my husband’s arms. He had failed again. I just didn’t have the juice. I took a trip south to walk through Virginia and visit my mother, Bunny. Bunny is a trail legend! She was the first woman to complete three consecutive walks. She hiked with my dad in 2000. She is part of the class that introduced me to the Appalachian Trail. She and I are BOTH SOBO originals. Nobody knows me better than Bunny. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “You don’t suffer well.”

He’s right, I thought. I don’t train well either. Or plan well.

My follow-up mom, Carol “Rambunny” Barnes, aka Bunny.

My tracking mom «Bunny» and her tracking mom, «Honey» Margie Towne from The Cabin in Andover, Maine

No more excuses

Once I returned home to Boston, I contacted Phil, Carcia. Phil Carcia is a hiker, runner, and media creator who has logged more than 30,000 miles on some of North America’s most iconic trail networks. Between August 23, 2018 and July 7, 2019, Carcia climbed all 48,4000 feet of elevation in New Hampshire’s White Mountains every month, for 12 consecutive months, setting the fastest known time for one of the most grueling and dark peak-capturing projects in the United States: the Single Year Grid. He completed the White Mountain Direttissima 5 times and most recently completed the first NH 48 4000 Footers winter single season quad hike. Philip is a remarkably kind and generous soul who continues to break records and set new precedents at the Whites, inspiring many others to push their own limits…including me! I received the wisest of wise advice. He was able to see things from a different perspective and put a mirror in front of me that allowed me to see those things too…for the first time, from a completely different point of view than my husband’s or my family’s perspective. Enclose!!! Lock yourself up!!!! Stop lying to yourself. I chewed that. A fire burned in my soul. If I have learned anything in life it is this: if you want something bad enough in life, you will keep working until you get it. This is no different.

Philip Carcia leading the group.

Hello, I’m Goldilocks and this is my third attempt 🙂

It’s me, Goldilocks

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