I was surrounded by life and beauty. My soul was content, and my life felt full.

I know that I was hiking at a very young age because I remember being convinced that it was the trees that were talking.

Something deep within me connected with hard work, nature and simplicity.

Food is like a torture device because hiking 47 miles a day is hard enough. And then you're trying to get down 6,000 calories a day. Every hour, I needed a snack, every few hours I had to take in a meal and it's just not food, it's fuel. You're not enjoying it - you're seriously shoving it in your mouth and following it with water, juice or Gatorade.

One of the best feelings I had growing up was being completely exhausted at the end of the day after playing outside all day.

Our bodies are made to move, and moving down the trail is one of the oldest, natural ways people have used their bodies.

Writing is one of the main ways that I process the experience.