Without further ado (because there's been quite a far ado around here if you know what I mean), here are some highlights from the second half of 2016.
At the beginning of July, I got off trail for my grandmother's funeral :(. I got back on trail and made it to New York, ate my first ever banana split, and spent an amazing Fourth of July at home in NY with two trail friends. The days were so hot and my trail friends and I stayed cool by deli-hopping. I made it to Connecticut and then Massachusetts, where I stayed at a cabin on a lake with a bunch of friends and swam to a faraway island and hiked with the most amazing group of ladies.
Joe met me on trail for a 20 mile section (we crossed into Vermont and hitchhiked) and drove back to New York for vacation with my family! During vacation, we saw a Coldplay concert and then went to the Thousand Islands.
I got back on the trail a week later in Bennington and hiked with my British friends for a day before powering through 100 miles in less than 100 hours. I finally caught up to lots of familiar faces, jumped off a bridge, and made it into New Hampshire!
Joe met me on trail for a 20 mile section (we crossed into Vermont and hitchhiked) and drove back to New York for vacation with my family! During vacation, we saw a Coldplay concert and then went to the Thousand Islands.
I got back on the trail a week later in Bennington and hiked with my British friends for a day before powering through 100 miles in less than 100 hours. I finally caught up to lots of familiar faces, jumped off a bridge, and made it into New Hampshire!
AUGUST
In August, I went through the physically hardest/final part of the Appalachian Trail. I went ultralight (my backpack with food and water weighed less than 23 pounds), entered the White Mountains and climbed my first NH 48er which was followed by 21 more, including two on the beautiful Franconia Ridge, Mount Garfield where I caught a solo sunrise, deadly Mount Washington, and Mount Madison, which had dangerous winds at speeds of 80 mph. After those, I conquered a buffet, and made it out of the Whites after a few more tough climbs.
After a quick 24 hour's rest at a hostel, I carried on and entered Maine, the final state on the trail. I went through the most physically grueling section of the trail, discovered Moxie soda, caught up to my trail sister Slim Rims for a few days, but then hiked with a new trail family, The Seven Dwarves for the remainder of my time on the trail.
We hiked hard and had so much fun together. We crossed the 2000 mile mark, stayed in a cabin for a night, did a #beer-o, hiked a 33.4 mile day, and ultimately summitted Katahdin together on a crazy day that blew me away. (Literally... a huge gust of wind knocked me over and I broke my pole). After that, I spent a few more days in Maine celebrating, and like that my A.T. journey was over.
SEPTEMBERWe hiked hard and had so much fun together. We crossed the 2000 mile mark, stayed in a cabin for a night, did a #beer-o, hiked a 33.4 mile day, and ultimately summitted Katahdin together on a crazy day that blew me away. (Literally... a huge gust of wind knocked me over and I broke my pole). After that, I spent a few more days in Maine celebrating, and like that my A.T. journey was over.
In September I moved back to Westchester. I spent time catching up with friends and family and taking care of lots of stuff I didn't take care of while on the trail. I flew out to Chicago for Labor Day weekend/went to Michigan with my college friends. Once back in NY, I ran my first 5K in 3.5 years with my mom, went on a weekend hiking trip to the Adirondacks, and then packed all of my stuff and made a solo road trip back to Chicago and moved in with Joe!
OCTOBER
In October, my mom came to visit for the weekend, I continued to settle into Chicago life, Joe and I celebrated five years of dating, I applied to lots of jobs, and discovered Nike Running Club. Joe and I were hikers for Halloween, and fall looked pretty good on Chicago.
NOVEMBER
November for me started out with tons of excitement when The Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years. I saw The Cubs' celebratory parade and that weekend, Joe and I went on a date to see Wrigley Field. Election Day happened... and I continued the process of applying to jobs and went on a bunch of interviews. There were some great runs, a few fun nights with Joe and Maggie, a few sunrises, I made linzer cookies and baklava, and Joe and I went on a fun coffee date. For Thanksgiving, I headed to Rochester (via train), saw tons of family, and then made it back to Chicago.
DECEMBER
In December it finally got cold. Joe and I went out to Revolution Brewery with Maggie, went with med school friends to see the holiday lights at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and went to a few holiday parties. I went through a lot a job drama, but ended up accepting a temporary position and started in the middle of the month. I found out I got into the 2017 Chicago Marathon that week too! I celebrated my 25th birthday and posted my 25th birthday list.
After working for 1.5 weeks, I headed home for the holidays and then up to the Adirondacks to celebrate Christmas with my family as well as ski and hike, and then headed back to NYC to meet up with Joe and our college friends to hangout for a few days and go on my fourth annual Tour de Brooklyn.
After working for 1.5 weeks, I headed home for the holidays and then up to the Adirondacks to celebrate Christmas with my family as well as ski and hike, and then headed back to NYC to meet up with Joe and our college friends to hangout for a few days and go on my fourth annual Tour de Brooklyn.
Yeah 2016, you were a good one. A really really freakin' good one.
And to you... Thank you for following along. <3
It's not a resolution or anything, but I do hope to post more in this space in 2017.
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