Looking back on an incredible year

I’m remembering an incredible year. 2025 has been a year of great growth. I went from doing just one short hike (the TRT) in 2024 to three 200+ mile hikes this year.

New Zealand is a special place for me

The year literally started with a 12 hour flight to New Zealand with our arrival on New Year’s Day to walk a 225 mile section of Te Arora. It had its ups and downs. Like it literally went up and down! We walked the first half with just my mom and I, but then we met up with Trucker just in time for the best section: the Nelson Lakes region. If you opt for a short, sweet section of the trail, the Nelson Lakes region is my personal favorite. The food took a little getting used to, not knowing the brands and all, but I really enjoyed my time in New Zealand. It is a sweet memory in my heart and such a special place.

At one point, while we were at a Trail Angel’s house when he was sick, Landslide and I were thinking about the future and the possibility of maybe hiking the JMT. So we went ahead and got three permits to climb the JMT in July.

JMT Summer Adventure!

6 months after getting our permits, we headed out on the JMT with Trucker. I’ve been wanting to make the Tiara ever since I heard about it, one day I was in the kitchen making dinner when Mother Truck called me and told me it was basically the baby’s triple crown. (La Tiara consists of the Long Trail, the Colorado Trail, and the John Muir Trail). The three of us left. It is a remote, pristine and popular trail.

The views are stunning! The hardest part of the journey for me was the heat. We planned this hike a lot and thought it would be hot, but not 80 degrees every day, even at 4 and 5 pm. Our first resupply was in Bishop CA, where I really stocked up on cookies! We spent two nights at VVR where we got to experience the whole VVR hiker scene. I really recommend it.

The JMT is a special trail and if you have questions about how to hike it, I recommend you do it! It will be a great achievement.

Arizona Trail Memories

My mom and I decided we wanted to hike about half of the AZT this fall about 2 weeks before we hit the trail. It was a last minute thing that seemed like fun (to her), so we packed our backpacks and hit the trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon after a stellar train ride from Flagstaff.

The AZT is pretty quiet compared to the other hikes we’ve done this year, perhaps because of the fire on the North Rim. But I’ve heard the AZT is a quiet trail overall! We were hiking through SOBO, so at first the trail didn’t have much water, but as it went on it had more water! For the second half of the trail we hiked with a nice guy named Aquarius. So we had someone to look at Cougar tracks with! Ha ha ha. We plan to finish the tour in spring 2026.

The trails have been amazing. And I’ve never hiked three trails in one year! Well, there’s a scoop for everything. I’m grateful for The Trek, the support of my family, friends, and trail community, and of course, all of my amazing team!

Thanks for reading this post! -PJ.

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