Finishers! | $2,000 to do the thru-hike | Guidebook reviews

Congratulations to Laura and Brandon, who completed the full route of the thru-hike, from Santa Fe to Taos Plaza, in just eight days, including a full day of rest in the northern half of the route.

They had a great time and have lots of positive things to say about the route, the guidebook, and the resupply. You’ll get to hear more about their experience soon; I’ve asked each of them to contribute a page and a photo to the next edition of the guidebook, and a longer page of information to the SF2T website.

They are kinda perfect as the first two finishers - Brandon is an extremely experienced thru-hiker, having done all of the AT and the Camino del Norte, plus significant sections of the CDT and the PCT. Laura is a relative beginner to thru-hiking, though you’d never have known it. Up until this trek, she had done only a one-night backpacking trip, but she crushed it on the trail. I got to pick them up earlier today and treat them to brunch and drive them back to Santa Fe. They’ll be getting finisher t-shirts and another gift soon.

They got some great photos:

The Trek is offering $2,000 to complete and vlog the thru-hike for them

This is basically a freelancing gig, so you’ll need to meet their criteria and apply and be selected. Here’s the criteria:

• Experience producing vlog-style video content for YouTube.

• Experience creating short-form, engaging videos for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.

• Prior backpacking experience, thru-hiking experience is a major plus.

• A personable, engaging presence on camera that aligns with The Trek’s brand.

• Familiarity with and commitment to practicing the Leave No Trace principles.

• Oozing good vibes.

Their “job application” description page is here. According to Zach Davis, the Trek’s Founder & Editor-in-Chief, they had already gotten 20 applications as of last Friday. But if you’ve got the vlogging skills, definitely give it a shot!

Write a review for the guidebook

If you’ve bought a copy of the guidebook anywhere - from me/the SF2T website, from a local retailer, or from Amazon - it would be incredibly helpful if you could leave a short review or even a star rating for it on Amazon.

Even a couple of sentences or just a star rating would be great. It can be done in five minutes, and would help boost the guidebook in Amazon’s ranking system and thus get more sales and visibility for the book.

Huge thanks.

That’s it for now. The Buffalo Thunder Expo I wrote about in the last newsletter went great. Welcome to the new newsletter subscribers who signed up at the Expo, and have signed up since this newsletter last went out.

Work on/for the thru-hike has been busy, and will probably get busier still. I have gotten out on the trail and may be able to share some photos from my own extended time on the trail by the next “issue” of this, two weeks from now.

If you have any questions about doing the thru-hike, please don’t hesitate to ask. And if you have done the thru-hike, or even sections of it, I would love to hear from you.

See you on the trail,

Pam