PCTA 2016 Photo Contest… Say what?!

· by · in PCT. ·

I really thought (sadly) that I had written my last post about the PCT and then this magic email appeared in my inbox yesterday… And completely made my day, week and month!

I took more than 7,500 photos while hiking the PCT last year and entering some in this competition (I entered 3 of the 5 categories and you were allowed 10 pics per category) was a great motivation for me to sit down and start the long process of sorting through them.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want any to be chosen, obviously, but first place was never a thought on my mind! And I’m so happy because it’s a pic of my awesome hiker family: Teflon, Mrs Smith, KC, Mr Smith & Bear Lee. Unfortunately Shepherd is just out of the shot but Shepherd if you’re reading this you know you’re def part of the family 😉

I clicked on the link in the email to see the other winning photos for each category and something caught my eye…

Insert little squeal of excitement 🙂

The email came at a great time. I rolled my ankle on day 55 of the PCT and unfortunately continued rolling it for quite some time before I was able to buy a sturdy brace. Long story short and a further 2,500 miles hiking on that ankle (PCT & Spain), I’m now in my 3rd week of being in a cast up to my knee after an ankle reconstruction. And growing more and more impatient/frustrated each day… So the email came at a great time. It reminded me how much I want to be out hiking and taking photos again but that I need to take each day slowly and focus on my recovery so I can do just that.

So thank you PCTA and your awesome judges. And thank you everyone for reading my blog and giving me a purpose to write each post and take each photo.

Click here to see all the other incredible photos that won. (You’ll be taken to the PCTA website).

And to see a short video of my 160 day PCT hike, please click here. 

Thanks & Happy Trails!

Hummingbird 🙂

20 responses to “PCTA 2016 Photo Contest… Say what?!”

  1. Congratulations Kat!!!
    I am very sorry to hear that you are going through such a hard recovery. I was following you on your journey last year while recovering from a traumatic brain injury. You have been a true inspiration for me. I am doing better and will undertake my first 345 km hike in Canada this summer 🙂
    I wish you all the best,
    Sophie

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Sophie,
      Thank you so much for your comment. A sore foot is nothing compared to what you’ve been through so I take inspiration from you and your upcoming hike!! I hope you have a wonderful adventure. Happy Trails! Xx

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Congratulations on the photo contest and best wishes for a speedy recovery! Also thanks for taking the time to create and share the awesome video. I followed you and Sheppard’s blogs on last years PCT adventure – I dropped you both a note when you were near my location in Northern California. I’m still following Sheppard as he embarks on the CDT.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Marc,
      Thank you for your lovely comment & I’m sorry we couldn’t meet on the PCT last year. I’m following Shepherd’s journey now on the CDT too – it looks tough! Take care. Kat

      Like

  6. Congratulations and I agree that many of your photos are worthy of a prize. Hope the ankle mends well – you’ll soon be back on the trail.

    Like

  7. Congrats. So deserving. And I also think that your photos were amazing. I miss your blogging about the PCT and your pictures. Hope the healing goes well.

    Like

  8. Oh God that was beautiful. It’s so nice to hear from you. I don’t know how I stumbled on your blog, but I looked forward to it. When I didn’t hear from you, I worried. You should publish your story you took beautiful pictures and you are a great writer. I want to buy the first edition. Thank you so much for the adventure that you shared with me. I hope your knee/ankle is better soon. We are planning a tour de Mt Blanc next end of June 2017, would you like to join us? Maybe we could all chip in a pay your way. Most of us have done el Camino de Santiago. Sam and I have been every way on route to Santiago. We always say that’s it, but we never stop planning for the next walk. We have decided to make a bucket list, I want to see the western part of the US National parks, he wants to go to Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe it is, museums I don’t know, nature is my passion. I have been to so many churches and museums, I just want fresh air and trees. Anyway, please keep posting. Much love, Nancy

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Nancy, it’s lovely to hear from you again, thank you for your very kind comments 🙂
      The Camino is so addictive! Every time I walk a route, I’m always planning my next route before I’ve even arrived in Santiago! Mt Blanc sounds incredible but if all goes well I’ll be on a Camino I’m sorry. If you are transiting in London at all though please let me know.
      If Eastern Europe is winning this time, don’t worry, there’s lots of beautiful mountains there as well as stunning cities so I’m sure you can try to see both 🙂
      Great to hear from you.
      Kat xx

      Like

  9. Congratulations, well deserved. I enjoyed your PCT vicariously, your photos made the hike real. Now take time to heal, and when you hit the trail again, I know you will, I will look forward to seeing your photos and being able to see the world of the trail through your eyes.
    Isabelle

    Liked by 1 person

Comments or questions? Go for it!

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s