Write on Time

I finished up my first draft of this year's solo book right on time over the weekend. My husband is taking on the duty of first reader and going over it for typos and places that could use some extra attention, whether that attention be the machete or some polishing.

I'm happy with what I wrote, and I'm also happy to have gotten to relive some of those moments from over the summer. The ending of the trip wasn't what I'd planned, but there were so many incredible moments. I had a chance to hang out with rafters from across the country. I pushed myself hard on a difficult trail. I hiked through rain and camped alone in a thunderstorm.

And next year I'm going to do it all again! Well, sort of. While the original plan was to hike all the way through to the Magruder Corridor, I discovered when we drove out there that there aren't really services out there. Once I got off the trail, we'd have a four hour drive down to a real road, then another half hour or so to a tiny city. But, if I started hiking from the Magruder Corridor, then I could come out at Big Creek and get myself another $8 shower within an hour of leaving the trail.

Plus, there's a part of the trail where the elevation changes about 5000 feet in about 4 miles. Northbound, I would be climbing that. Southbound, I would be descending. Now, I like climbing and all, but that's a lot. And the trail is no longer maintained. So I'd rather hit it on the downhill when I'm fresh than on the uphill at the end of my journey. Especially since I'd need to haul water up with me.

So next year I'll be doing a southbound segment from the Magruder Corridor to Big Creek. That will get me to about 420 miles of the Idaho Centennial Trail completed; nearly halfway.

But for the rest of this week, and pretty much until I'm done with publishing, I've got to focus on the other part of the solo book. The pictures! And the formatting. And the cover. And the back cover copy. And all the other little joyful minutiae of self publishing. I actually do like these parts, but they can be fiddly. Especially considering I typically only do it once a year so I need to remind myself how to do things.