Nana is a thru hiker, and her husband Bill supports her from their Bay Star—all while seeking out his own photographic opportunities. Watch the video and read their story below.
April 11, 2025
Passing Thru
Watch It!
Lace your boots for this 4-minute video. See how photographer, Bill and thru-hiker, Nana live free in their 2018 Newmar Bay Star, affectionately nicknamed “Moose.”
The Bay Star is a 2018, brilliant black and gold, and shining in the desert sun. He levels it, gets the slides out, and sets up a little patio area. He’s prepping for Nana’s return tonight, where she’ll briefly stop off the trail. She’s been on the trail for about five days, and he’s meeting her this evening at a trailhead.
Miles and Miles
Nana’s trail nickname is Pinball, and after spending about ten minutes with her, you can understand why. She’s a source of endless energy and moves seamlessly from one task to another. And forget about keeping up with her on a trail. Going up or down—let alone on flats—she practically glides along the path, precarious rocks or not. She gets an easy four strides in between each click-clack, click-clack of her extendable hiking poles. Of course, this isn’t her first go at this. Far from it.
“I started at eight years old, at a camp in Yosemite. That did it. It turned me into a thru-hiker,” Nana says. Ever since, she’s pushed herself farther and farther, and her list of achievements is nothing less than astonishing.
Nana’s completed thru-hikes add up to more distance than many may go in a road trip—and she’s done all of this on her own two legs. “I’ve done the Tahoe Rim Trail (170 miles), the Tahoe Yosemite Trail (186 miles), the John Muir Trail (211 miles), the Pacific Crest Trail (a whopping 2,653 miles), the Alta Via 1 in Italy (150 kilometers), and three Caminos: the Camino Frances (800 kilometers), the Camino Del Norte (865 kilometers), and the Camino Portugues (380 kilometers),” she says.
Now, she’s out to finish the Arizona Trail, which clocks in around 800 miles. A year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic pulled her and her “tramily” (a portmanteau of trail and family) off the trail when they had just about 450 miles left.
