When The Sunset And Sunise Blend Together As One

Misty frost, soggy feet, numb hands, this can't be beat. I'm in love. It's so beautiful... So peaceful and free. Not a person around, alone with my thoughts and strong legs... It's just me.

I can't imagine what it will be like when it really gets cold. When it sleets so hard I won't be able to see. Right now, everything is perfect and my shadow is standing tall. 

I took a 4x4 track until I felt confident enough to go off trail. Struggle. I did this until the highway, new struggle. A beautiful lunch on a black sand beach. Only a few drops of rain.

I made it to Ásbyrgi hours ahead of schedule. Burger, beer, charge devices, fall asleep. Head resting in my greasy plate of fries. My body isn't used to the time change and there's so much I want to see. Seven more miles before I can set up tent tonight. I don't mind though, because this is where I need to be.

It didn't get dark today. I continued down or up, I'm not sure which direction. Is it morning, is it night? I left so late, there was only one other person in sight. We camped together under rainbows, above a canyon, silty raging water below. I needed this company. I was deflating from exhaustion.

Thank you, Iceland... for bringing me so much light.  

The End

I forced myself to wake up in the wet, black, night of a morning. Headlamp clumsily slanted over my rain jacket and hat. Shit. Battery's almost dead, just like my bloody feet. I had to wrap my tent over the ridiculously gigantic souvenir I so intelligently purchased for my last day on trail. This word cyclone vibrates fear through my veins, but it's really just a little synonym for storm.

I left early. So early that it was almost yesterday. Eerie silence. Calm and quiet. Just me and the moon. I was prepared. Five Bumper Bars and two bags of gummies in my right side pouch, a Red Bull on the left with my water bottle and countless hard candies hidden in the hip belt in case of emergency. I sat in front of the library to steal a few minutes of free wifi before running down the beach, at probably my fastest pace to date. It was going to be a 60 km kind of day, and I had to make it to The End, as my travel arrangements were booked for the following morning.

Someone was looking out for me because I tell ya, not a drop of water wet me nor my clothes for the first 25 k's. I was followed by a perfect blue circle of light... Rain pouring in all directions except for straight above. And then, the sunrise... The beautiful ocean sunrise. This brought tears to my eyes. I gave my momma a fat hug and grin, feeling her warm smile as she watched me with pride and joy for how far I've come.

A lovely local named Jason offered me a ride into town once I hit the road walking section, just two minutes before the absolute downpour. He's the frontman for an ACDC cover band and has the sweetest pit bull I've ever seen. Nine k's later and what do you know, my old hiking pal 10-Speed met me with the famed French Laura to lighten my pack and re-hike into Bluff.

We made it. We did. It was exactly 1.5 million miles from start to finish, filled with an abundance of blood, sweat, mud and tears. Actually, it was mostly filled with laughs, but that's not how the saying goes. The last day on a thru hike is always the best, and this one proved right. I wish I could leave you with some profound words of wisdom upon reaching my end point, but right now I only have one thing on my mind and it's that ITS TIME TO CELEBRATE! 

It's the Final Countdown

I'm moving fast, but I feel so slow. A line of storms was set to head through my last week on trail, but I put myself on a deadline so on we go.

I absolutely loved this last section. It had everything. It summed up so much of New Zealand's terrain in just 7 days. I made some new dear friends at the beautiful Greenstone Hut, which is more of a Swiss chalet if you ask me... flushing toilets, enough said.

I had my first and only "close call" while trying to ford a river alone in the early morn after days of rain. That was scary... Real scary. There was one last mountain pass, and I was early enough to catch the clouds part for the noon heat.

I got my tussock hiking on, and oh boy do I love those plants. There was a final farm to trek across, complete with a huge herd of sheep.

Some more road waking, too! By this time, both pairs of hiking socks were almost completely disintegrated and my heels were starting to bleed. Sean bandaged me up and I moved over to my knee high sleeping socks to finish in style.

Don't let me forget about the mud... It has been so long since I've been able to posthole in a deep bath of wet earth up to my thigh! Yes!!!

And of course, the exotic mossy forest sections I've grown to love. You'll get this here, too, right before the beach. Awe yes, the beach. I started on the ocean some three months ago, and how epically powerful to finish walking down the long flat sunrise sand.

Huts, friends, rain, fun. Tussocks, mud, a mountain pass and I'm almost done. Roads, sheep, ferns, and towns, one last morning beach walk, and I'll never forget when I almost drowned.