Trail Magic
We finished the trail, all 2,655 miles Nov 9th!
Dear Scott and Janet
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are a core memory and honestly one of the coolest and most generous experiences of not only our trip but life. We can’t thank you enough for the hospitality. We look forward to getting out on the water soon!
Happy Holidays from the Hoffman’s,
2023. Was the year of adventure and love for our family. In the winter, we sold our home in Highlands Ranch, which allowed us to continue our nomadic travels through the Southwest. In the spring, we lost our beloved boxer dog, Rocky. It was then we decided that time is our greatest gift, making the most of it became our priority. That catalyst solidified our plans to hike not only the 273 miles of the Long Trail in Vermont, but also the 2,655.2 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail through the length of Washington, Oregon and California. We visited Bryce, Zion, Mojave, Joshua Tree. Cabrillo, Grand Canyon, Oregon Pipes, Saguaros and Petrified Forest National Parks.
The summer kicked off with opening up Sandy Pond. We ventured up to Vermont to (including Gila) backpack the oldest thru-trail to the US. The Long Trail. It took us 21 days, which was excellent preparation for the main event, the PCT. We had one week of fun and family at Sandy Pond, then flew to Seattle, WA. We started southbound from Canada on July 9th. We spent the major of our summer in Washington and Oregon where we climbed spectacular mountains, swam in glacial lakes, ate lots of huckleberries, and connected with new/old friends. We hiked through the Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Crater Lake National Parks.
The fall was spent trekking through California. We hiked the incredible Lassen Volcanoes, Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks. The Sierras was our favorite due to the big views, ruggedness, and larger mountain passes. We weaved our way through the desert. Well, looking out for rattlesnakes and poisonous poodle-dog bush. We completed our continuous footpath thru-hike of the PCT at the Mexican border on November 9th.
Colleen's dad and John's mom hiked the last mile of the PCT with us. We celebrated John's incredible accomplishment of completing the backpacking Triple Crown (AT ‘16, CDT ’18, and PCT ’23). He is one of only a few with that claim to fame.
We rounded out the year by accepting new jobs and will be moving back out West.
We want to THANK YOU all for the tremendous support (in taking care of our pup, sending resupply packages, providing rides, sending care packages, trail magic, and FaceTime calls) and outpouring of well wishes. It meant the world to us during our journey. Now we send our love and well wishes to our dearest friends and family for this year to come. May it be filled with the people, places, and adventures you love.
Happy Holidays and Love,
Long John (John), Three Socks (Colleen) and PigPen (Gila)
We finished the trail, all 2,655 miles Nov 9th!
Thanks for helping us get there with a great story!
THREESOX (Colleen) & LONG JOHN #soboordie
