Starting the Continental Divide Trail in 2023

Hi, I’m Gabe.

I currently live in Seattle and enjoy exploring and photographing my trips in the mountains. I moved to Seattle in 2017 for work and since then I have split my free time between playing ultimate frisbee and spending time hiking in the Cascades. 

For many years my focus was put into ultimate frisbee, the culmination of which occurred in 2022 when I won a World Ultimate Club Championship and USA Ultimate National Championship with Seattle Mixtape. After a successful frisbee season in 2022, I turned my focus to a project that had taken over most of my interest in the past couple of years. In May of 2023 I left Seattle and attempted to hike the Continental Divide Trail. After completing the first 700 miles I left the CDT and switched trails to attempt the Pacific Northwest Trail – a lonely, remote, beautiful, and largely unknown National Scenic Trail that stretches from Glacier National Park to the Washington Coast. 

Since completing the PNT, I found myself returning to the images I took while hiking the 1,200 mile trail. I felt that when I shared the photos, they were often missing the story behind them. As someone who struggles to feel like I have successfully shared my stories, I decided to create this site as a long-form outlet. My hope for this site is to share the stories behind the photos I take for my family and friends, provide a small personal perspective of the beauty in Washington and beyond, and expose why I continue to seek out new adventures as I push myself to grow my skills in the mountains. 

Scoring in the WUCC finals in 2022
© Samuel Hotaling for UltiPhotos