Northbound, April 18 to September 10, 2024.

I moved to California about 2 years ago and quickly fell in love with its incredible and diverse nature. I tried to summarize my hiking experience here in these nine pictures.

Locations (in order):

1. Big Pine Lakes, Inyo National Forest

2. Four-Mile Trail, Yosemite National Park

3. Winnemucca Lake, Eldorado National Forest

4. Lone Cypress, Monterey

5. Ewoldsen Trail, Big Sur

6. Inspiration Point, Channel Islands National Park

7. Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park

8. Cholla Cactus Garden, Joshua Tree National Park

9. Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park

A four day jaunt into the Yukon’s Ogilvie mountains in mid September.

My mother has been hiking in the Yukon backcountry for fifty years, and wanted to spend her birthday out there with me. We have had a lot of crazy adventures over the years (she raised me partly in a bush cabin deep in the mountains) and she has outlasted a lot of gear. This time our only small mishap was that her fifteen year old tent gave up the ghost and we had to splint the pole with willow sticks. We didn’t even get snowed on!

West Hart River, Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon Territory, Canada

Haven’t been on a hike since I was 6, I’m 19 now and 20 in November. I want to start losing weight and enjoying nature ( I don’t see much forest cuz I work in a metal shop in atl). I had a great time and made it half a mile up! Gonna keep coming back till I get to the top.

The Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah, USA

I took them out to the wall street segment and then turned back. A lot of crowds into the mid morning, be sure to do this one in the early morning!

Had an absolute wonderful time got there before sunrise and it was amazing!

I just finished my thru-hike along the Atlantic Forest Trail (in portuguese: Caminho da Mata Atlântica), in Brazil.

It was 195 walking days crossing more than 130 protected areas, including 9 National Parks and 23 State Parks, numerous islands and high peaks and countless friends along the way. In total I walked around 4.100 km to become the first thru-hiker of the Caminho da Mata Atlântica! My journey crossed the entire Serra do Mar and part of the Serra Geral mountain ranges, passed through iconic landscapes, cultural heritage sites, rural communities, high peaks, canyon edges and dense tropical rainforests, all along one of the five most diverse biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Atlantic Forest.

Throughout the journey, I realized that the final destination isn’t what truly matters. What matters are the connections and the immersion in the culture and way of life of the people. That’s why I often ended up deviating from the route to explore other places. But each time this happened, I felt that it was exactly where I was meant to be. I walked over 4,000 km and never faced any dangerous situations—not with animals, nor with people. On the contrary, I discovered an endless number of kind-hearted people who helped and supported me in a completely selfless and human way. The contact with nature has made me a completely different person, and I feel that my mission now is to connect and bring people closer in the same way I felt connected—because we all must fight together for conservation, and no one takes care of what they don't know.

The Caminho da Mata Atlântica is perhaps the longest mega trail in Brazil and in Latin America, and crosses the Atlantic Forest biome, one of the five most important biodiversity hotspots in the world. It has a network of enthusiasts, volunteers and partners along the trail that were really nice to meet up all along the way.

You can find me on Instagram (instagram.com/julisantta) where I am happy to share my experiences along the way. For more information about the trail visit the website: caminhodamataatlantica.org.br/en/home/

I won tickets to the wave my first try and wow, I understand why some people try for years, it’s absolutely beautiful and the journey there is actually better than the wave itself.

Coming and going was 7 miles, took us 6 hours,but that’s because we kept stopping for pics and goofing off. Definitely would recommend it.

They have attachments you can use that connect waste as it comes. Horse manure might be slightly less insidious but than dog but there’s nothing more frustrating than hiking/biking/running behind a group of horses and having to avoid stepping in a steaming pile

And while it technically might decompose faster than dog, plenty of people do not feed their horses weed free feed and any non digested seeds can easily spread through out the environment.