About Micah
I found the outdoors before I found the words for why I loved them.
I was seven, following my dad through the forests of western Washington hunting mushrooms. Before long, I was exploring the logging roads behind our house on my own, following streams and wandering through patches of old-growth forest just to see what was out there.
At fourteen, I spent my first night alone in the woods, more out of stubbornness than anything else, after the friends I’d brought along decided to go home. A couple years later, my dad took my brother and me to Mount Baldy, and hiking started becoming something more deliberate. It didn’t feel like a calling at the time. It was simply something I loved doing.
Not every adventure went according to plan.
On one particularly ambitious backpacking trip, I convinced a friend to head into the mountains with me in the snow. We ended up miles off course, climbing an icy chute with one axe between us and eventually throwing our packs down the slope just to keep our balance. We made it out, but I came home with a few scars and a much better understanding of just how much I still had to learn.
Over time, hiking and backpacking became the things I looked forward to more than anything else. I started traveling farther, taking on bigger objectives, and spending more time learning how to do them well: Mount Whitney, Half Dome, the Trans-Catalina Trail, and plenty of adventures in between.
Somewhere along the way, friends started seeing me as “the hiking guy.”
They’d ask where they should hike, what gear they needed, how to plan a backpacking trip, or whether they were ready for something bigger. Eventually, strangers on the internet started asking those same questions.
That’s really why Micah Hikes exists.
I’m not the most experienced person in the outdoors. And I definitely don’t think there’s only one right way to hike or backpack.
But I do remember exactly what it felt like to be the least experienced person on the trail.
I know what it’s like to look at a place like Half Dome or Mount Whitney and wonder whether you’re capable of doing something like that. I know how overwhelming gear, permits, route planning, safety, and all the little unknowns can feel when you’re getting started. And I’ve learned that sometimes the biggest thing holding someone back isn’t knowledge at all.
Sometimes it’s not having anyone to go with.
So what started as a page about my own adventures has grown into something bigger. My goal is to help normal people explore the outdoors with more confidence, find places worth going, learn the skills to get there safely, and meet other people who want to go too.
If you’re somewhere between “I’d love to do that someday” and “let’s figure out how to make it happen,” you’re in the right place.
Grab my free hiking checklist if you’re getting started, or join Trail Sessions to meet other hikers, learn from the community, and find people to get outside with.
