CAL HIKES
Educate, Explore, Inspire
ABOUT ME
My name is Cal "Starburst" Dobbs.
My pronouns are they/them and I love you.
High school teacher, outdoor educator, XC/TF coach, ultra marathoner,
backpacker, college athlete, sociologist, activist, and dog dad.
My name is Caelan (Cal) and my pronouns are they/them! What are your pronouns? I am a twenty five year old high school teacher, outdoor educator, cross-country and track coach, ultra marathoner, backpacker, activist, sociologist, and dog dad to a husky named Cooper and a lab named Truman.
I was born and raised on the sunny coast of Los Angeles, CA but I earned my Bachelor’s in Sociology, Anthropology, and Education from Swarthmore College on the East Coast. At Swarthmore I competed on the Varsity cross-country and track teams, I studied comparative education abroad in Scandinavia, and I obtained my national teaching credential in my final semester.
Upon graduating I embarked on my unforeseen career in long distance hiking. I started my Appalachian Trail thru-hike two days after graduation and the rest is history. Since then I have hiked the Appalachian Trail '19, the Continental Divide Trail '21, and I will be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and finishing the Great Western Loop in 2022. This will make me the first known transgender person to complete the Triple Crown of hiking and the Great Western Loop.
Two days after graduating from Swarthmore in 2018 I flew to Georgia to begin my northbound Appalachian Trail thru-hike. It was paused in Vermont due to recurring incidents on trail of sexual harassment, sexual assault, homophobia, and intimate partner violence that resulted in my needing to get off trail for safety reasons. I was determined to finish my hike however, so as soon as I was safely able to return to the trail, I hiked to the northern terminus at Mt.Katahdin, completing my Appalachian Trail thru-hike.
My undergraduate work on inclusion in education led me to my jobs as a researcher in the Graduate schools of education at both UCLA and USC. I conducted qualitative research on gender inclusion in STEM fields and accessibility of technology in Los Angeles public schools. I helped publish policy reports on the efficacy of California educational legislation and researched trauma-informed education practices.
I left my research positions when I was hired at my dream job - teaching and coaching at my alma mater, Venice High School in Los Angeles. I had dreamed of returning to Venice to teach since since I was a freshman in high school because I wanted to give back to the exceptional community that raised me. I taught AP and World Geography and coached the team I competed for with my high school coach. It was a dream come true which is why it was challenging to leave in 2021 to attempt another dream of becoming the first trans-nonbinary person to Triple Crown and run across the country.
My dreams are simply to finish my Triple Crown and run across the country (a dream I set my heart on in middle school) but being the first trans nonbinary person to achieve this is not a responsibility I take lightly and it is an important distinction to articulate. There is a ongoing and recently acute violent attack on trans people in America, especially in sports. As a trans nonbinary, pansexual person I care about intersectional issues of social justice and accessibility in the outdoors.
Growing up working class in Los Angeles, the outdoors were not accessible to me. I didn’t grow up camping, hiking, or backpacking, but I did fall in love with running. I ran competitively in high school and was recruited to run D1 in college but chose a balance of rigorous liberal arts academics and D3 athletics instead.
During second semester of my senior year at Swarthmore my friend took me to the White Mountains of New Hampshire close to the AT. I had never heard of the AT but once he explained it I knew I had to do it so I rescinded my job applications and prepared to thru-hike in two months, after graduation. It was the first time I had seriously backpacked and I discovered the same freedom I felt while running.
I hike because hiking is when I feel most free and alive but I have also had my freedom undermined on trail as a target of sexism, homophobia, and transphobia. The trail community is plagued by the same structures of oppression that govern our world. I hike to be free but as a result of these experiences, I now also hike as an activist to uplift and embrace other folks who have been excluded from or disenfranchised in these spaces so that we can set each other free. As a queer trans non-binary person, I want to use my hiking to create a world where everyone feels welcome and included.
Off trail I’m a teacher but on trail I’m a student. We say the trail provides and while that can be meeting our physical needs, the trail also meets our deeper spiritual needs if we have the courage to listen and learn. I ask myself constantly, “How can I imagine a better world that honors and gives back indigenous land, a world that confronts the intersectional issues that exclude many people from spaces like the outdoors, and imagine a world built on connection and abundant community?” The answers to these questions come from our connection to the earth and to each other, which is why I’m so excited about this journey and growing with all of you.
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The Story of "Starburst"
For those who are not hikers, a trail name is a name you earn on trail, usually a long-distance hike, and there is a story behind every name. My trail name is “Starburst” and it’s because I like the candy Starburst. Just kidding - I actually hate the candy but that’s the lie my friends told me to tell if anyone asked how I got my trail name. I want to tell you the true story.
During my section hike of the PCT in the summer of 2020 I met three old white dudes (as I affectionately called them) that gave me my trail name. Maximus, Professor Hat flap, and Gar Bear.
I was experiencing a lot of emotional, familial, and social turmoil at the time and something I do often on trail is cry to process my emotions. One day in the Sequoias, I was barreling down the trail listening to Fleetwood Mac wailing and sobbing, thinking I had the woods to myself.
I rounded a corner and saw three old white dudes standing dumbfounded in the middle of the trail. Fuck! They won’t understand this is so embarrassing. I bet they’ll think I’m a weak girl or something and judge me. I wiped my eyes and forced a smile. They asked if I was ok and I said "Yeah just one of those days."
I understand that. They said, "We just wanted to make sure you weren’t in trouble! we’re happy to see you’re okay."
"Don’t worry about crying! Crying is good for you! See this guy here, he’s my brother and we call him water works!"
They asked if I wanted to talk about it and I said, "Yeah actually I would,"
and I hiked with them for the next three days.
We talked about everything and they had fascinating perspectives.
One was a guitar making pastor in the midwest, one was a professional butler in the northeast, and the third was a surgeon in San Diego. They were the uncles I never had and they were the kindest, most empathetic, old men I had ever met but you would never know by looking at them. People on trail surprise you that way.
I told them that I didn’t use the trail name I got on the AT because it was given it to me by someone I didn’t like. So they made it their mission to give me a good name. "When we first saw you flying down the trail you were like a shooting star or a burst of light streaking across the sky, exploding with emotion and tears sparkling. You were a Starburst - but you can tell people it’s because you like the candy if you don't want them to know you’re a crybaby." We laughed.
Months later when I decided to embark on this hiking journey, I reached out to them. My family was not supportive and I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing. GarBear said, “Following your heart and the beat of your own drum requires uncommon courage and a ton of faith in yourself. Having a dream outside the box is cool, going for it is special, and being a good human-being is all that matters.”
When I told them about wanting to start a website and podcast Maximus said, “Remember this about inspiration - it is contagious and circular - we can all be a part of the positive.”
They are my family, the kind you only find on trail. The love they showed me is the love I want to send back into the universe and the reason I want to share this journey with all of you reading! Thank you.