The title says it all: I’m headed back to the PCT (for a few weeks, anyways)!

I still have one more appointment scheduled for the end of the summer, but as of right now the general consensus is that everything looks good, I just happen to have an irregular heartbeat which appears to be congenital. My cardiologist said I’m still good to hike, which was exactly what I was hoping to hear.

There isn’t time to finish the whole trail before winter at this point, and with the entire northern California section closed right now due to wildfires, I’ve decided that my goal this year will just be to complete the state of Washington, which is about 250 more miles. That means I’ll get to take it easy – long lunch breaks, and plenty of time to fully soak in the beauty of changing foliage and to hopefully snack on ripe berries.

The last month and a half have been a bit restless, but I’ve kept busy and it’s been a good summer. I spent the time hanging out with family and friends, writing, eating lots of good food, and oh yeah, going on an overnight backpacking trip with my Mom and younger sister Alaina. (I cannot stay away from trails, apparently.)

We hiked back to a gorgeous and calm lake in central Oregon. Here are a few pictures from the trip:

There were no mosquitos, but there were a million miniature frogs all over the place (perhaps there is a correlation there…). I have never seen such tiny frogs before; most were no bigger than a fingernail.

To say I’m excited to keep hiking this summer would be an understatement. A few more days, and I should be back on trail again!