McKenna's Gist

Whenever I play the social ice-breaker game “Two Truths and a Lie,” I always say, “I’ve jumped off a 60-foot cliff, I hiked the Grand Canyon when I was 16, and I’ve seen 3 bears in the wild.” Most people guess the 60-foot cliff story is the lie, but it’s really about the bears. I’ve seen 5, all in Arizona.

I couldn’t tell you when I first truly fell in love with nature. My first memory of camping with my family in Idaho should have sealed the deal in the opposite direction. We were quite poor and had virtually no equipment in the beginning of our family camping endeavors. Our sleeping arrangement consisted of the six of us, my mom and dad and three older brothers, lying side by side in our sleeping bags, all under a single blue tarp. I was on the outside edge. It rained. All night. And I remember lying with only half my face and body covered by that blue tarp stretched out flat across our bodies, simply accepting that this is the way it was. 

I rarely accepted anything that way, though. My poor parents. They were patient and unconditionally loving. But I fought everything. I fought against the idea that I was a girl. I fought against how slow and boring high school was, and graduated early. I fought against taking my time with anything, rushing through my bachelor's degree in Recreation Management, rushing into my marriage, and tried rushing into having kids, but my parents strongly suggested getting a dog instead. We’d had dogs growing up—my childhood dog lasted from 3^rd grade until I was a sophomore in college!—so I loved the two beagles I got. Then I had kids—two girls—back to back. I ADORE them.

Nature always helped me re-center, helped me fight just a little less. There was nothing to accomplish out there, per se. I just needed to be. 

After several years of struggling in my young adulthood, I let my life go in a healthier direction, reintroduced myself to nature, and felt her warm embrace. It’s where I know myself best. It’s where I can see others more clearly. And it’s there that I accept, once again, that this is the way it is.

Heidi's Story

One of the defining aspects of my life is that I was raised as an Air Force brat. My father was a career officer in the USAF, a KC-135 tanker pilot. My mom was a multi-talented homemaker, musician, calligrapher, gourmet cook, teacher, and seamstress.

They were married in 1955, and yes, my mother is really that small and my father is really that tall.

Mom makes a home for us wherever we are stationed, which is a lot of moves and a lot of setting up house. By the time I am in third grade I’ve gone to 8 different schools.

My brother is two years younger than me, but as a child I am quite shy and he’s much braver than me in most things: talking to adults, asking directions, swimming in the deep end, and being generally comfortable in who he is. I usually let him take the lead until I build up my own confidence.

Our family enjoys hiking and camping while my brother and I are still quite young. There is some bribing involved on those early hikes - candy to keep us going.

As we get older we start backpacking, using mainly Army surplus and Boy Scout equipment. Nice heavy exterior frame canvas packs.

1967 Backpacking in the San Juan Wilderness Area

Fast forward to my marriage to “C” over 41 years ago. Together we raise three sons and one daughter. We camp often with our kids when they are still at home, and have some large family camp-outs after they have children of their own. Always tent camping.

Family camping 2005 in Arizona

All of our kids enjoy outdoor activities, two of them are pretty hard core. McKenna is one of the ‘hard core’.

We move quite a bit when our kids are growing up, and live in Idaho, California, Utah, Kentucky, and Arizona. Three of our kids still live in Arizona and one lives in Colorado. “C” and I live on almost 8 acres in western Montana, in the Bitterroot valley where we have horses and one ginormous dog.

View from my kitchen window.

We're silly happy.

A Blog is Awkwardly Born

McKenna: Do you think it would be better to do an introductory post for each of us, or work in our history as we go?

Heidi: A little of both. I think there needs to be some initial context, but then we can expand in later posts as appropriate. We could have a post on how we met. Bwahaha…

McKenna: That would be hilarious! Lol!

Heidi: Well, I’ve read a lot of boring blogs, so I’d like to keep it fun.

McKenna: I think we should do that. How about the first post is a duo, and we have dialogue? About how we met. As simple as just writing here in Messenger (since you live in Montana, and I live in Arizona) and then I copy and paste with names showing who is speaking?

Heidi: (Much later) Still thinking what to say about this…

McKenna: Haha! You can say no…Or, oh, are you starting the dialogue?

Heidi: …how to start. Haha!

McKenna: Can I put my interruptions in there?

Heidi: Yeah, that would be good, BUT I HAVEN’T STARTED YET. I’ll put quotations marks when I start.

"The first time I saw McKenna I didn’t know she would be the Best Hiking Buddy Ever. For one thing, she wasn’t very big."

"For another, I don’t think she was breathing, and breathing is important for any hiker."

McKenna: <huffing emoji> Well, in my defense, you hadn’t taught me anything yet.

Heidi: I’m going to have to think where I want to go from here… Plus, I’m watching a movie with Dad.

McKenna: Let’s just jump to adulthood. Nothing happened in between.

Heidi: <cry-laughing emoji>

"When we met, I had more backpacking and hiking experience than she did."

McKenna: Yep, but I’d already had a near-death experience, which probably is what set the tone for my desire to seek adventure and adrenaline. My three older brothers and my dad also helped with that. Then I’d seen pictures of my mother, her brother, and my grandparents hiking around in the…what…1930s?...and I knew it was in my blood.

Heidi: "But over the years that I’ve known her, she's grown up, hiked hundreds (thousands?) of miles, and is as tough as nails."

McKenna: Definitely in the thousands. I got my first thousand miles in my Columbia boots that I loved. I’ve never thought I was as steadfast as you, though. More hardheaded than tough. I cannot wait to get out there. Let's bail on this post. The trail is calling us!

Heidi: You know I’m going to be relying on you for your outdoor skills and toughness.

McKenna: I did take one desert survival class about 18 years ago…

Heidi: Plus, you make me laugh.

McKenna: And since we’re both moms, we’ll wet ourselves at least twice on this trip from laughing.

Heidi: It’s going to be a great time, no matter how far we make it.

McKenna: I feel particularly lucky to be spending this time with my mother, who I don’t have a lot of memories of as a small child. You were a very hard worker for our family and now getting to know you more and more in my adulthood, I count myself incredibly lucky to make up some lost time with someone I consider to be my best gal pal.

Oh, do you think we should mention what we are doing?

Heidi: Our blog is Two Mother Trekkers, so don’t you think it’s obvious? Oh, do you mean specifically what we are going to do? Am I not keeping track of this conversation?

McKenna: Dementia. I can see it already.

Really, I think the biggest question is what made us decide we should carry everything we need on our backs for two months and 800 miles? It has been in the works for over 5 years now, but what was it again that drove us to this madness?

Heidi: Let’s see, we started doing day hikes together in Arizona in what, 2006-ish? And we really liked that. And got better at it.

McKenna: Yeah, we had both had quite a bit of hiking experience by then, but had been away from it for too long. Careers, children, etc.

Heidi: And then we started hearing about the Arizona Trail, in maybe 2009? Cuz they were targeting completion by the centennial. And wouldn’t that be cool to hike that straight through together. And wondering how long it would take, but knowing it was only a dream cuz neither of us was at a point in our lives that we could do that.

And then I think I told you in maybe 2011 or 2012 that maybe we could do it. I think we originally targeted 2017, but things came up and we pushed it a year. And here we are.

McKenna: Even now it will be tricky to pull off. We aren’t without our worries at home while we’re gone. My babies (ages 8 and 9)...

...Dad with his horses...

...and that big bear you call a dog…

Heidi: Oh, and you talked me into publishing a blog before we even knew if we could make it. So many blogs start, and the hike never gets finished. Now everyone will know if we fail, SO WE CAN’T FAIL!

McKenna: Well, you’re in good hands. And so am I. So, let’s do this!

Arizona Trail Facts:

• In 2011, the final mile of the Arizona Trail was completed, finishing a dream that began 30 years earlier.
• Length: 800.3 miles of trail between Mexico and Utah
• Designated by Congress as a National Scenic Trail in 2009
• Crosses through many different land types: four National Forests, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks, and Arizona State Parks.
• The trail travels through 11 of the 13 natural biotic environments that occur in Arizona.
• Despite the many natural springs that litter the Arizona wilderness, water is still an issue and concern for thru-hikers.
• Gateway communities include some popular towns like Patagonia, Tucson, Superior, Payson, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon Village, Jacob Lake, and Page.
• The AZT likes to weed out the weak in the beginning. The trail starts with a 3,000ft elevation gain in 6 miles.
• Elevation ranges from the lowest of ~1,750ft to ~9,175ft, and crosses right through the Grand Canyon.
• Temperatures during our selected hike time of mid-March through mid-May can range from below freezing to 100+ degrees.

See the Arizona Trail Association for more information.