Support Clare on the Pacific Crest Trail

Hi there friends!

 

If you don’t already know me, my name is Clare, I’m 24 years old, and on April 29th, 2022 I plan to begin hiking 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail! I am so incredibly excited and grateful to be heading out on this 4 and half month journey.  In the final two months before I leave, I am raising funds to help support the costs of food, gear, and lodging while ensuring I have a cushion for emergencies and post-trail life. In the event that I surpass what I can use, I plan to donate all excess funds to The Oath, an organization committed to planet, inclusion, and adventure, and the Pacific Crest Trail Association  (PCTA).

Ever since my first backpacking trip in 2017 to the Great Smoky Mountains with the program Partners in the Parks, I have been fascinated with the idea of a thru-hike. Up to this point, I had spent most of the first 20 years of my life growing up in a small town in the midwest. I always found I was inexplicably happy in the outdoors that were accessible to me.  But the forests and fields of Indiana are very different than the Appalacian or Rocky Mountains, and when I learned that people not only climb mountains but walk across them on their way across the country, I was floored. But there was one big problem with this newfound love; I didn't ever see myself being capable of something that like this.

In the year prior to this first backpacking experience, I had spent more of my time in therapy than doing anything else. This was hardly unexpected: I was just beginning to recover from an eating disorder that was deeply rooted in feelings of inadequecy and perfectionism. I struggled to see myself in the positive light others saw me in; I had a terrible relationship with my body and an even worse one with exercise. Even when I had gained the weight back and was medically cleared for movement beyond activities of daily living, I didn't trust myself. I was scared that no matter what I did, I would always have this nagging thought in the back of my mind that I wasn't good enough, and this made the thought of phsyical activity unbearable. 

That's what made hiking and backpacking so different. While the miles, the elevation gain, the unpredictable weather, and the heavy pack were intimidating, it was the first time in years that I can remember being genuinly happy while exercising. Not only that, but I felt capable of it, every step stronger and more confident than the last. 

It took me a few years to push myself to begin hiking regularly. I was still early in the road to recovery and had just started college, where I was immersed in classes, internships, books, on campus organizations, and student activism while developing lasting relationships with friends and professors. When Covid hit in March 2020, we were just around 2 months away from graduation. I began running and hiking again, like so many of us taking every moment that I wasn't in a zoom meeting to be outside. For me, this also meant I began to once again start dreaming about thru hiking. 

When I moved to Colorado a few months later to work on a 2020 political campaign I had a secret agenda; I wanted to see a new part of the country. Specifically, I wanted to see mountains and I wanted to hike up them. 


Fast forward to today. I have been seriously considering and  then planning my thru-hike of the PCT for a little over a year, and I am continually fielding this dreaded and challenging question: “Why?” Why can mean a lot of different things for different people. 

“Why in the world would you want to walk from Mexico to Canada?”

"What makes you enjoy this?" 

“Why would you quit your stable job for this?”

"Aren't you scared of bears and lions and things?"

“Why are you doing this now? Why not wait till you're older?”

"Do you actually want to do this?"

All of these questions are valid. And I have answers to them specifically. But in the simplest of words, it is because I can.

It is because there are so many beautiful and, frankly, fun reasons to do so. Because my body, despite once being undernourished and fragile, is strong and healthy and capable. Because I want to see a part of the country I’ve never seen before. Because I enjoy and am capable of doing hard things. Because I am tired of the idea that you have to do life a certain way on a certain timeline to be "successful." Because I can join a community of funky, unique, strong, inspiring adventurers who are on the same yet different journeys than me.  Because it makes me happy. Because there is something inherently cool about how we, as humans, are capable of doing amazing things like walking across the country if we put our minds to it. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and donate. While there is much unknown ahead, I am incredibily excited and humbled to share my journey.