Oh, Hello! Let me introduce me

Welcome to the blog!

Thanks for falling! My name is Tom Finan, and I am trying the Colorado path in July 2025. The main objective of this blog is to narrate my day to day for family, friends and I while I effort to complete the Colorado path. Secondly, I hope to convey my story to anyone and everyone who can stumble with these publications. Years ago, the adventures of friends and family inspired me to get out of my sedentary existence and the desert. Maybe I can provide a similar spark for someone in a similar situation? Yes, on the way, this trip inspires you to follow your outdoor passions, great! Do you have a mortgage? Do you have any children? Do you have an unhealthy daily routine? Don’t worry, me too! Life is full of obstacles and barriers. If you have the desire, a support network (or in my case, a support wife that deserves holiness) and a pair of comfortable shoes, you can achieve any objective.

My life in the real world

In my normal daily existence (out of trail), I am a husband and father, with a career in higher education. I live in New Hampshire and work in Boston. Fortunately, having a hybrid working life allows me to go to the white mountains every time Mountain-forecast.com predicts a sunny day. I have been blessed as a Boston Sports fan by birth right. This fact is not relevant to my hiking life, but for me it is important that people know that I have attended a lot of parades. I am a proud Catamount, having graduated from the University of Vermont in 2011. My time in Vermont is where I met my closest friends, my wife and where they introduced me to LT and the concept of hiking. Currently, I live in the New Hampshire Seocoast. A perfect commitment to my wife and me … minutes from the beach, and hours of the white mountains. I’m not a good negotiator …

The way to be a late flourishing

In 2017, a Catamount partner and his brother of the fraternity planned the inaugural «Pike Hike Send» for our team. This was a walk to the summit of Mount Washington, and one night during the night on the Lake of the AMC clouds. At this point in my life, outdoor activities had been in my rearview mirror. I was north of 300 pounds, without knowing it, living with diabetes, and renounced a life that revolved around my cube. When I first saw the email about joining the night on the lake of the clouds, I was nervously excited. I had liked walking like a younger boy, but walking to Behan Pub in Jamaica Plain was the greatest activity that I allowed at that time.

Fortunately, I joined the walk in my worn nikes and in the old bookbag. The nerves will be convicted, I needed a change. It may have been the last and last, but I was successful. I made the summit. Maybe the duckbads were not going to roll along Lansdowne Street, but I felt a satisfaction that I did not have in a long time. A fire lit up. Fast advance until 2024. I completed the NH48 four thousand feet peaks, I put on the best form of my life, I took control of my diabetes and decided to celebrate reviewing the concept of through and the long path.

A happy boy in the northern terminal of LT

Becoming a hiker felt as the culmination of this trip to change. Touching that edge marker filled me with a tide of pride. The type of feeling that could only come when discovering a call and putting the blood, sweat and tears. By stranger it seems, completing the long path came with a satisfaction that left me feeling dissatisfied. I needed more. I need more. So, here we are. The path has taken me to Colorado.

«Proper preparation prevents low performance» -Bill Belichick

Although … Tom Brady also helps prevent low performance, but that is another complaint for another blog …

How am I preparing for the Colorado path? Physically, I keep doing what I like to do the most. I maintain my daily mileage up to about 15 miles per day. The daily walks with a package in which they have made wonders for my physical resistance. However, they have not done much for my reputation in the city. «Oh, hey! You are the Kook in the backpack we see walking at 9 pm in January!» It is a chorus that I have heard on some occasions. Fortunately, I have a flexible job and a loving wife (can you win a presidential freedom medal for being a tremendously supportive partner?) That encourages me to take off through the mountains as much as possible. I made some loops from Francia Ridge and visited some family summits in the presidential range in recent months.

A beautiful NH day on whites

I feel very good with my physical approach to the Colorado path. That said, I have some concerns …

First, elevation. I’ve never been to the west than Chicago. I am a New England boy. It will always be. The highest elevation I have achieved is the peak of Mount Washington, a modest but powerful 6,288 feet high. I have a recipe for Diamox in my pocket and a head full of naive hope. We will see how it is going!

Second, I have never been so far from my wife and children for so long. On the long path, I was never more than 4 hours away, and I only left for 18 days. While I love spending time on the paths, I appreciate my time with my family. Managing the mental strip and loosen between the time on the road and time with loved ones is never easy. I hope these activities show my children that I am dedicated to being in their long -term lives. I also hope that you see that chasing your dreams is not exempt from hard work and sacrifice.

This year, in an attempt to maintain a connection between the home and the path, I had my son (5) and daughter (2) Each chose a small stuffed animal that will accompany me along the path. Know Wolfie and Duckie!

My hiking partners of Colorado Trail

I like to walk alone, but I will allow these two to continue. I hope they help my children feel close to me while I am out. I hope to bring Wolfie and Duckie triumphant so that they can stay «forever and ever», as my daughter likes to say.

I am ready, I am excited and, above all, I have hopes.

I hope you join me (indirectly) in Colorado!

I’m on the way to adventure in the next few days! I am excited to see new places, new environments, new animals and new people. The stars have aligned. This is my opportunity to go to the west and assume a new challenge. I am adopting all the anticipation, all the apprehension and the moment. I hope you enjoy following! We are in Colorado!

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