I am now single and living in NYC. The fit of my green Deuter backpack, the sensation of sleeping on [an inflatable sleeping pad on] the ground and the feeling of deep belonging in a close, intimate partnership all feel so far away now. I’ve replaced the vast open spaces with possibility, creativity, connection, horns honking, sirens screaming, and a deep sense of purpose.

There were some scary and steep cliffs with snow and ice on them today. I was so grateful to have Freefall's microspikes for my shoes. Maybe it's a total placebo effect, but I feel safer putting them on. We weren't getting along too well today, at one point we had some glicades (sliding on your ass down a snowy hill) and I noticed Easy was sliding down wearing a frown. Then that made me laugh, which didn't help.

Another challenge for me with thru-hiking is that I don't feel useful while doing it. There's no team of people waiting for me to show up because they are counting on my unique skills. The goal to get to Canada doesn’t feel extremely impactful to me. While I know that self- discovery and growth are a large part of thru-hiking, there's something about primarily facing inward that doesn't align with my sense of purpose.

We arrived at Kennedy Meadows in the afternoon. If you've seen the movie "Wild," you've seen Kennedy Meadows. It's a place where there's a big front and side porch filled with dirty hikers eating burgers and drinking beers. When hikers arrive at Kennedy Meadows "fresh" off the trail, everyone cheers and claps to celebrate their arrival. It was such a funny feeling to be applauded as we walked up. I had this strange desire to do a backflip while holding my trekking poles (but of course that's something I can't actually do).