Cass Bridges hails from North Georgia and spent a few seasons working at the historic Mountain Crossings before taking on a thru-hike attempt of her own in 2020.

Her journey included two months of isolation since she had a start date of February 1st (!) combined with a more brutal than usual winter. However, the second half of her hike included a hugely impactful trail family that made the experience even more memorable.

Nova is wise beyond her years and made the most out of her Appalachian Trail thru-hike by reflecting and growing every step of the way.

Check out Nova's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/kassdeey/

As Ryan said in the show, he welcomes emails with comments about the podcast and other ideas you may have for him. He's at [email protected].

Katie Westling is in NOC, with the weather and her second Covid vaccination slowing her down a little. But she's in good spirits and will be doing that long climb out of the NOC, while many of you are listening to this. Best of luck with that one, Katie!

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