Mallory Weston 4/12/25 Mallory Weston 4/12/25

Alta Via 1, Part 3

We spent most of day 5 hiking with our new friends Anh and Keaton, heading out from Refugio Averau in the morning. The morning scenery featured some iconic Dolomite vistas, passing nearby Cinque Torri and many other dramatic rock formations. Along the trail, we passed the crumbling remains of a notable military fort carved into the granite at the base of the peaks. We descended through some weathered canyons, then made our down to a roadside Refugio that was a popular stopping point for motorcyclists. From there, it was a short but steep climb to one of the other spectacular views of the trail, a bowl-shaped valley rimmed with peaks and a monumental grassy slope that seemed like a ramp to the sky. My little Alta Via guidebook talked about how this valley used to an ancient hunting ground, where animals would be funneled into the valley, and hunters would block the few entry points, trapping their prey. We said farewell to our hiking pals who were splitting off to go into town, and continued along the Alta Via.

Mallory Weston 4/5/25 Mallory Weston 4/5/25

Alta Via 1, Part 2

Day 3 was short, but it featured one of the most memorable stretches of the trail. The morning started with a climb into the hills surrounding Rifugio Lavarella, with the trail eventually transitioning to a relatively flat gravel road for a few mellow miles. We decided to make things a little more exciting by taking an alternate over a nearby pass. The trail quickly started climbing along the steep hillside, headed towards the distant notch in the mountains. We were keeping pace with the couple we met the other night at Lavarella, and took turns taking photos as we approached the top of the pass. The views from the top of Forcella di Lago were dramatic. Standing at the top of the pass, we were flanked by steep cliffs rising up on either side of us, with views of Lagazuoi across the valley and a pale blue pond immediately below the pass. The descent was marked by the most ridiculous series of switchbacks that I’ve ever encountered. I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to say that there were over 100 zigzagging down the steep slope.

Mallory Weston 3/27/25 Mallory Weston 3/27/25

Alta Via 1, Part 1

In June 2022, Alex and I hiked most of the Alta Via 1 in the Italian Dolomites. We were traveling to Europe for Munich Jewellery Week, and we decided to spend a week hiking beforehand. I thought the Alta Via would be the perfect introduction to backpacking for Alex since we would sleep indoors at the trailside refugios and get to enjoy delicious food and drinks along the way. The whole trail is about 75 miles and goes from Lago di Brais to La Pissa. We ended up hiking about 60ish miles in total because that’s all we had time for in our schedule. It was a little tricky to plan the logistics and mileage around the refugios (camping isn’t allowed) so that created some awkwardly short days. Still, I didn’t want to push my luck with bigger days to try and ensure that Alex would enjoy the experience.

Mallory Weston 3/18/25 Mallory Weston 3/18/25

Trans Catalina Trail, Little Harbor CG to Two Harbors

When we got out of our tents in the morning, there were palm fronds scattered all around from the wind the night before. We had a leisurely breakfast and then started hiking. It was a climb straight out of camp, and there were beautiful views looking back over the campground. This was one of my favorite parts of the TCT, the trail passed right up the spine of the hillside with a nearly uninterrupted slope on one side, leading all the way down to the ocean. At the top, there was another sheltered picnic table that we stopped at for a few minutes. From here, you could see the whole northern part of the island. After this, it was a descent into the town of Two Harbors.

Mallory Weston 3/17/25 Mallory Weston 3/17/25

Trans Catalina Trail, Black Jack CG to Little Harbor CG

By 7:45, we were packed up and hiking. A few hours later, we passed by Airport in the Sky, where we spent a leisurely amount of time sitting at the cafe, eating breakfast burritos and drinking coffee. Today was a shorter day, with more absurd views for most of the day. We could see the Little Harbor Campground for a while as we approached in the early afternoon. A cove with a beach, palm trees, and campsites dotting the surrounding hills. After an 8-mile day, we rolled in around 1:30. In the November low season, we were able to reserve a premium campsite right off the beach.

Mallory Weston 3/14/25 Mallory Weston 3/14/25

Trans Catalina Trail, Avalon to Black Jack CG

In November 2021, my best friends Leslie, Emily, and I decided to thru-hike the Trans Catalina Trail (TCT) during our fall break. Catalina is a small island off the coast of Los Angeles, and the TCT snakes through the island from top to bottom. After all the hiking I had done over the summer, I was so excited to finally do my first baby thru-hike. This was also the first time backpacking for Emily and me, and it turns out this trail was a great choice. TCT hikers must stay at established campgrounds along the route, and each one had bathrooms and potable water, so we were able to ease into the experience. I had spent the weeks leading up to our departure buying my first pieces of backpacking gear, and we painstakingly planned all the logistics. The day before we started, the three of us met in LA and got a hotel in Long Beach for the night.

Mallory Weston 3/12/25 Mallory Weston 3/12/25

Bryce Canyon NP/Escalante, July 2021

For the last few days of our trip, we headed further East through Utah, stopping in Bryce Canyon and Escalante. This was more of a mishmash of different locations, loosely focused around seeing some slot canyons. Here are some of our hikes:

Peek-a-Boo Canyon (3.3 miles)
Wall Street and Queens Garden Loop (3.7 miles)
Willis Creek Narrows Trail (6.0 miles)

Mallory Weston 3/10/25 Mallory Weston 3/10/25

Zion NP, July 2021

After spending a solid week in California, we packed up our campsite and drove several hours across Nevada and into Southern Utah. Alex’s sister, Callie, was working as a park ranger at Zion National Park, so we planned to spend another week visiting with her and exploring the area. This turned out to be a really generous amount of time, and it allowed us to visit some more remote areas of the park. Here are a few of our hikes from the week:

Angels Landing via West Rim Trail (5.9 Miles)
Observation Point via East Mesa Trail (7.3 Miles)
Northgate Peaks via Kolob Terrace (5.2 Miles)
West Rim Trail, Top-Down (16.4 Miles)

Mallory Weston 3/6/25 Mallory Weston 3/6/25

Yosemite NP/Mammoth Lakes, July 2021

West Coast road trip continued! After spending a few days in Sequoia, Alex and I drove North toward Yosemite. This was our first time in the park and we decided to drive from East to West on Tioga Pass Road to get to where we would be camping in Mammoth Lakes. It was a massive detour, but worth it for the scenery. We spent a few days hiking in and around Mammoth and then went back into Yosemite for a full day. Here’s a few of the highlights:

Little Lakes Valley to Gem Lakes (9.8 miles)
Tuolumne River Loop: Dana and Lyell Forks (3.9 miles)
Vernal and Nevada Falls via the Mist Trail (9.0 miles)
Rainbow Falls via Devils Postpile (4.6 miles)

Mallory Weston 3/3/25 Mallory Weston 3/3/25

Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, July 2021

In July 2021, Alex and I set off on an incredible West Coast road trip. We flew into Las Vegas and rented a car to travel around Nevada, California, and Utah for about two weeks. Our first stop was a few days at Sequoia NP. We camped just outside the park in the town of Three Rivers. We spent our time day hiking and had a brush of excitement after our rental car nearly ran out of gas on the first day driving within the park. Here are some of the hikes we did:

Tokopah Falls via the Tokopah Valley Trail (4.5 miles)
Giant Forest Loop Trail (8.1)
Heather Lake, Emerald Lake, and Pear Lake (11.7 miles)

In May 2025, I plan to set out on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail as the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s first artist-in-residence. I’ll be blogging about my progress, and in preparation, I’m recapping some of the trips I’ve taken in the past. Thanks for your interest, and stay tuned!

Mallory Weston