How Backpacking Became Home: My Journey From The Backyard Creek to the PCT

In 2021, I went on my first backpacking trip to Hawn State Park. My pack was way too heavy, we took a wrong turn and couldn’t find the water source, and it was at least 90° in Missouri, which means it felt even hotter with the humidity. When I left the park at the end of the weekend, I had been changed forever. Where It StartedI spent my childhood in the woods behind my house. I had a trail that was maybe ¼ mile long that followed a creek and ended at the rain tunnels under Interstate 64. I’ve always...