It was 20 years ago, in 1996, when I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. Ever since, I have longed to hike the Continental Divide Trail. At 61 years old, I figured I would work for a few more years and start a thru-hike of the CDT in 2019. A slightly unexpected event created the opportunity to change my thinking. On November 17 was told by my employer of eleven years that my job was eliminated. This news never really angered me. I benefited from eleven years of good income, challenging work, and travel to far flung places around the world to do my job: Europe, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Australia, South Africa (and I could go on about specific cities and added time to hike and explore, but not right now).
A week after I was told of the need to look for new “opportunities”, my wife Cindy suggested that I hike the CDT in 2016. Wow! That was a revelation for me because hike the CDT is the real opportunity my job loss gave me.
My former employer was kind enough to ask me back on a temporary basis to work until I leave for the hike, and of course I said, “yes”. Many of my former colleagues asked me if I would be blogging during the hike, and again I said, “yes”.
This is my first post here, and I will add more posts as I get ready for the start of the hike, which I expect to be April 18.