About

My name is Derek.

I’m currently studying for my PhD in physics. I like spending time outdoors, especially hiking and camping. And I’ve had type 1 diabetes since I was eight years old.

The idea for this blog came about near the end of my undergraduate years, when my fiancée (then girlfriend) and I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. When, after a bit of research, we couldn’t find any evidence of other type 1 diabetics thru-hiking the PCT, my dad thought it could be cool to create some public record of my adventures, both for myself, and possibly to inspire other diabetics out there who might not think hiking for five months through the wilderness was a reasonable possibility.

I tried getting Pokin’ Along started back then in 2018, but things fell through, and while I managed to hike the whole 2650 miles (Maria had to get off trail after about 500 miles), I never managed to describe any of my adventures to the public.

Over the last few months I’ve been looking back through my picture of the PCT and reading my journal entries, and I’ve been wishing I’d kept a better record of my time there. I’ve also been able to get outdoors more regularly as a knee injury has improved. And I want to create something. Since I still wish I’d been able to do something more with Pokin’ Along in 2018, I figured why not try to start it up for real this time.

A big part of why I never made anything happen before was that I had set high expectations for myself, and felt daunted by the desire to provide some great insightful source of information. So that’s not what I’m doing this time. I’m keeping my aspirations small. I’ll try to keep some record of any day hikes or overnight trips I go on. Some descriptions. Maybe a route. Some pictures. Mostly, it’ll be a journal for me, and anyone else who want it, to keep track of my adventures and have something a little more substantial to look back on in the future.

That’s the baseline. There may be more or different content if I feel like it, but I’m leaving my options open and my expectations low. If you choose to stick around, I hope you enjoy what you find and maybe get a little something useful out it too.