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CAL HIKES
Educate, Explore, Inspire
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Everything Backpacking, Running, Education, Advocacy, Inclusion, Accessibility, Social Responsibility, and dogs.
Welcome to Cal Hikes, by queer trans educator, activist, distance runner, backpacker, and dog dad Cal "Starburst" Dobbs (they/them).
Great to have you here.
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Healing my PTSD
There is something I have not opened up about publicly. It is extremely personal but I think it’s important that I share for two reasons;...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Feb 17, 20222 min read
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Gas Station Bathroom
NY —> NC Cory was so happy. He admitted that selfishly, he was glad he got so much time with me. Sometimes he worshiped me. That’s why we...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 9, 20215 min read
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Off Trail
Mountain Center, VT —> North Carolina The next day he picked me up at the hostel. I felt so tired from lack of sleep and a sugar hangover...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 8, 20213 min read
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The End
Killington, VT — The next day, Linda dropped me off at the Green Mountain Hostel in Mountainview, VT and we hugged goodbye. I knew it was...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 7, 20215 min read
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Linda
Killington, VT I found Beetle inside a church in Bennington and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Some very kind church people decided to be...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 6, 20213 min read
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The (short) Long Trail
Williamstown, MA —> Bennington, VT While Cory and I were in Williamstown I wrote an email I sent as an update to people in my life...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 5, 20214 min read
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Siphon
The next day, Cory drove me back to the other side of Mt.Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. I hiked about ten miles to...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 4, 20212 min read
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Syrup
Upper Goose Pond —> Williamstown Beetle and I hiked to Upper Goose Pond cabin and met Cory there to start the 50 mile attempt the next...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 3, 20213 min read
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Unsupported
Massachusetts Beetle and I hiked together and decided to attempt the 50 mile again in a few days. We hiked very well together and always...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 2, 20212 min read
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Long Days
July 31 That night Beetle and I decided to attempt a 50 mile day together. We needed Cory to slack pack us so I texted him to pick us up....
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
Jun 1, 20211 min read
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Beetle
Salisbury, CT Cory said he would meet me later on in Massachusetts. I hiked out of Kent depressed and anxious. At this point, every day...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 31, 20215 min read
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Uncertain
I was distraught about what to do romantically. I felt like I had to choose between Lionheart and Sam. There was a time when I thought I...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 30, 20213 min read
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Happy Birthday
Kent, CT It was a hot and cloudy July day in Kent, CT. We began the day fighting over something unremarkable. I remember that he argued...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 29, 20212 min read
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Trauma Brain
This is where my memory gets blurry. I stopped journaling. I stopped texting friends and calling family. My mom started to get scared. My...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 28, 20212 min read
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Pests
Kent, CT Lionheart said he had never had a good birthday. He told me something terrible always happened on his birthday. Growing up it...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 27, 20215 min read
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Dissolving
New York --> Connecticut Through all of this I felt myself drifting further and further from Sam. I lost my tramily and friends on trail...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 26, 20212 min read
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On the Run
Unionville, NY —> Connecticut Gone. They were gone. Everyone was gone, actually. I thought I had woken up in a sci-fi movie where aliens...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 26, 20213 min read
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New York Horror
The next day I reached a small town called Unionville in New York. The local post office let hikers sleep on their lawn. The local post...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 25, 20212 min read
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Perpetual Discomfort
The next morning I woke up in a pool of my own sweat, rain water, and blood, both mine and the mosquitoes’ I massacred. I put my wet...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 24, 20212 min read
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Music on the Mountain
New Jersey I bolted down the trail in New Jersey - it was already 3PM so I had to hike fast to get to the shelter twelve miles away. I...
Calvin Dobbs-Breslin
May 23, 20216 min read
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CONTACT
Mailbox at
3967 Sawtelle Blvd apt. E
Los Angeles, CA
90066
Email: scaitlindobbs@gmail.com
Instagram: @cal_dobbs_
Venmo: @cal_dobbs_96
Paypal: paypal.me/SARAHDOBBS152
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