Forming a Community: The Story of Creating & Growing THRU-r

This trail tale starts even before I took my first step on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). 

In 2018, I found myself working 70-80 hours per week in a finance career I worked years to achieve, paying for a lovely apartment I rarely got to enjoy. I was working away, day after day, in a chair under fluorescent lights with no windows. In a word, I was successful. In another word, I was miserable. 

“Is this the life I really want to live?” I started asking myself, over and over. I needed adventure in my life again. And I needed a change, a big change. After making the (somewhat rash) decision to hike the entirety of the 2,652 mile trail from Mexico to Canada for – said - change, I realized I had a lot to learn about long-distance hiking.

What was the best way to prepare? With hikers who paved the way from Mexico to Canada before me, of course! The experienced hikers who ran, sauntered, and stumbled from one border to another were the people I needed to connect with. 

The problem was, I couldn’t find a single comprehensive resource that connected hikers in the way I desired. I craved more authentic interaction than what was found on YouTube channels, blogs, social media, and message boards. I wanted a real-time connection with multiple hikers in a fun, respectful, and safe space. A place where all of my questions were welcome and answered. In effort to get some semblance of this information and connection, I called my local REI to see if any of their staff had thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail. 

I was lucky! There was one woman there who hiked two years prior.

I met with her and peppered her with the questions I wrote down (and there were many). “How do you store your food? Do you need an ice axe? What kind of backpack did you use?” She was happy to answer, and I was grateful for the insight in an “in person” setting. I also reached out to others I knew in my area who had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, but they were all busy and didn’t have time to meet with me. Such is life!  The rest of my preparation was online via YouTube, social media, blogs, and websites. But was it enough? Was there a better way? I thought so…but didn’t know exactly how. 

A major realization during my hike from Mexico to Canada was how wonderful and kind the thru-hiking community was. Hikers would stop on the side of the trail and talk like old friends, even if it was the first time that they were meeting. We would share sunset views over cooked (and cold soaked) dinners, lend a hand when needed, talk about the river crossings and snowy passes in the Sierra. We’d connect with our full presence, a rare occurrence in our modern-day life with computers, smartphones, and online-based work. How refreshing! This experience alone was incredibly profound to me, and I reveled in it. To receive someone’s full presence is certainly a gift these days, and I was getting it in droves.

The camaraderie that came from people from all over the world and of different backgrounds – was both baffling and inspiring to me. I was able to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise in my “normal” off-trail life. Artists, teachers, nurses, engineers, vagabonds, doctors, chefs, and the list goes on. To do something like we were; attempting to walk from Mexico to Canada, was a major bonding experience. “Where are you from?” and “why did you decide to hike the trail?” led to hours of conversation while hiking, on a break, or in camp. Many of these conversations led to deeper bonds with people I otherwise would never make an acquaintance with outside of trail. 

Oftentimes, groups called “trail families” formed where hikers stick together for a larger part (or the entire) trail. I found myself in one and true to the name, came to actually see them as family. Hiking through beautiful days and also what we call “type II fun” days strengthened our bond even more. To experience the beauty and brutality of nature with others is rare, and I was happy to share the stunning sunrises and scary snowy traverses with my very own trail family.

Hikers celebrate and dread the end of the trail. Finishing a long trail is bittersweet and many have a hard time processing their emotions. The words “happy” and “sad” come up in the same sentence. This huge accomplishment of hiking thousands of miles through beautiful – and sometimes rough – conditions is met with a deep longing for it to never end. To hike with the people you’ve come to see as family every day, to witness nature in all of its beauty, and to have the goal of making it to Canada one step at a time...all finished.

After a thru-hike, many people experience a condition called “Post Trail Depression” or “Post Trail Blues”.  I’ve heard hikers of past years say that, even though they went back to their normal life after trail – they thought about their long-distance hike(s) every day. Not a day went by where they wouldn’t think about their experiences from trail.

While I was going through Post Trail Depression myself after my first thru-hike, I couldn’t accept that my trail life would just drop off. “How could I just let this go?”

The answer? I couldn’t.

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail was the most profound event that happened in my life, and I wanted to keep the bonds to the trail community alive. I missed the adventure. I missed my trail friends. I missed talking about Forester Pass, the crazy weather and scary river crossings. I missed hearing other’s stories about their experiences in the same places I hiked through. I missed the camaraderie and support from the people I came to love.

Similar to my predicament before hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, I couldn’t find a group, tool, or way to easily connect with hikers in real-time – outside of the confines of a message board or social media. There was no tool that existed to connect the hiking community in the way I desired.

So there was only one solution I came up with:

I decided to build it myself - and have the trail community build it with me.

In April of 2020, after a particularly bad bout of Post Trail Depression, I launched THRU-r. It started as online Zoom meetups to support 2020 hikers who had to cancel their trips due to the pandemic. Originally, I was planning to host Pacific Crest Trail preparation meetups, but with the way the pandemic was progressing – I thought the support group was the best way to serve the community at that time. 

Before the first meeting, I was afraid no one would show up. I had visions of myself waiting on the call all alone. But to my joy and surprise, 11 people showed up and it was a wonderful and helpful conversation for all, in real time. This was the kind of connection I was after – and I wasn’t alone. Hikers left the meeting with many thanks, and I got the inkling I was onto something. 

My original focus for the meetups was helping new hikers prepare for trail, but I noticed something interesting as time went on: The experienced hikers were the ones who kept coming back for more! In retrospect, this made sense to me. As an experienced hiker myself, I yearned to talk about being on the trail with people who understood, so why wouldn’t they share the same feeling? To this day, our experienced hiker “regulars” are the greatest asset and greatest connector in our community. If you’re reading this – you know who you are! And if you’re an experienced thru-hiker who hasn’t joined us yet, I invite you in. 

At THRU-r, we help hikers connect in a meaningful way, just like on trail! Over the years, we’ve become a trusted resource for thru-hikers preparing for trail in a group setting. We’re also a place for experienced hikers to come and share their stories and knowledge. It’s a tight-knit community where we practice kindness, respect, and supportive real-time connection. We have a lot of fun, and a lot of laughs. We also have an online private community, podcast, video library, trail correspondent team, ambassador team, and advisory team. The people are our focus, and we strive to connect long-distance hikers all over the globe.  

As our world becomes more digital, in person connection is crucial now more than ever. Looking to the future of THRU-r, we are committed to focusing on in person hiker events and meetups. We believe that the connections we make on a thru-hike are so strong because it’s in person and with full presence. That’s what we want to give hikers more of – before, during, and after trail. We’re excited to foster in person meetups and events in the coming years (but don’t worry, our live online events aren’t going anywhere!). To get involved and join our community of long-distance hikers, you can visit thru-r.com