It’s been a while. Damn. I know. Life at home on our wild land, in our tiny cabin, has been wonderful. I built a raised veggie bed and I’m already harvesting the salad and radishes and yummie things I planted a month ago. We’ve been digging and creating a flat spot in our meadow to put our tipi on. We installed a new heating system in our cabin to get us through the winter. And I’m working on a new website for our Wilderness School. Yes, I’ve been busy like a bee.

After being back for two months now I wish we had enough money though to fly back to the US and hike through Oregon or Washington. But we don’t have the money and my hip is protesting too. The daily pain takes away a good chunk of my energy, yet I am trying to give it not too much of attention and focus on the things I still can do and I enjoy. Like going for shorter walks, observing animals, practicing my archery skills, reading books, taking classes, …

It is with good memories and a touch of longing that I look back to the PCT and my second thruhike of the JMT. It already feels like sooo long ago. What makes me happy though, is that there is something to go back to, something unfinished to be continued. Will I ever be able to, with my medical condition? I don’t know but I very much wanna believe that I am capable of doing anything.

For now I am trying to postpone the surgeries, though some days I don’t know how much longer I can handle the pain. I at least wanna try to build the muscles around my hip. It worked with my knee. After 700 miles on the PCT I gained 10 pounds of muscles in my upper legs and my knee pain disappeared. How awesome is that? I guess I need to become a bodybuilder. Hm. Damn. It’s time to get a six pack, a muscle butt, a well trained back. I think I’ll pass on the bodybuilder tan though! It’s worth a try right?

Now back to those memories. In my next few posts I’m gonna share my daily journal I wrote while thruhiking the JMT for the second time. While I was on trail I had little to no internet connection so I couldn’t do daily posts. But just like on my first JMT hike I kept my handwritten journal. It’s a mess of comparisons to my first hike, emotions and boring descriptions of the miles I made and the places I camped. But I guess it’s still worth a read, if not for you, at least it is for me haha.

Love,

Cat

My mom and dad gave us an awesome “welcome home”!

Phoebe being 100% content to be back on our wild land

Working on my raised veggie bed

Soon we’ll have veggies and a place to put our tipi

Making my own healthy muesli

Dayhike

yumm

Celebrating my selfbuild veggiebed with a mojito :cP :cP :cP

And another dayhike

Phoebe doesn’t like my food

Finally our Tipi standing

Convinced mom and dad to try Altra

:c)