Jessica Guo traded a lucrative six-figure corporate career for one of the most formidable endurance challenges on Earth, becoming the first woman to complete a continuous hike of the Continental Divide Trail and Great Divide Trail in a single calendar year.
From Corporate Consultant to Trailblazing Hiker
In April, Guo arrived at the Mexico-US border near Lordsburg, New Mexico, after just two-and-a-half hours of sleep on an overnight bus. Staring out at the flat, shadeless landscape, the former consultant experienced first-day jitters, questioning her decision to abandon corporate America.
Her ambitious goal was unprecedented: hiking 3,541 miles (5,698km) continuously from Mexico to Canada, linking two of North America's most challenging trails. The route traversed New Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert, Colorado's high-elevation passes, Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful, Montana's alpine scenery, Glacier National Park, and the remote backcountry of Banff, Canada.
"I didn't start out as some crazy endurance athlete and I really think of myself as a normal person," Guo reflected on her extraordinary achievement, which only three men have completed since 2005.
The Gruelling Five-Month Journey
Guo maintained an astonishing pace of approximately 30 miles (48km) daily over five months, documenting her progress through short, narrated videos she edited during easier trail sections. What began as content for family and friends soon captivated tens of thousands of followers, with her Instagram audience growing to nearly 50,000.
The physical challenges were immense: she gained 179,450 meters (588,747ft) in elevation - equivalent to climbing Mount Everest twenty times. She battled swarms of mosquitoes, thick mud, snow, rocky ridgelines, and dense forests while spotting bears, caribou, and 193 species of birds.
When she had cell service, Guo would text video files to her brother who uploaded them on her behalf. She celebrated her 30th birthday on the trail, continuing her relentless progress toward Canada.
Overcoming Doubt and Finding Strength
Despite being raised in a Seattle suburb where family hiking and camping trips were regular occurrences, Guo admitted it took years to grant herself permission to attempt something extraordinary. Her inspiration came from a pivotal trip to Panama after high school, funded by selling Girl Scout cookies, where she first learned about the Pacific Crest Trail.
"I think a lot of women tend to underestimate what they can do, and feel like we have to be overly prepared," Guo observed. "I later realized you don't have to feel like you're 100% ready to go after it."
Even with growing female representation in thru-hiking - recent surveys show women now comprise nearly half of all long-distance hikers on major trails - Guo encountered "benevolent sexism" with men underestimating her capabilities. As the daughter of Chinese immigrants, she also noted the lack of Asian representation in endurance hiking.
"It's hard when you don't see people who look like yourself doing the things you want to be doing," she said, expressing hope for increased diversity in outdoor adventures.
Healing Through Hiking and Future Plans
Guo's accomplishment follows her successful 2023 Pacific Crest Trail hike, where she earned the trail nickname "Stitches" after two separate incidents requiring medical attention. The joy of completion was short-lived as she experienced severe post-trail depression upon returning to her consulting career.
Her doctor prescribed a surprising remedy: get back on trail to remember who she was. Guo took medical leave and hiked the Colorado Trail in about a month, finding the experience profoundly healing.
"That was really empowering because previously I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't moving outside," she recalled. "Those are also the things I have to do when I'm on trail. I have to move forward, I have to eat, I have to sleep."
This therapeutic experience inspired her Continental Divide Trail and Great Divide Trail attempt. Finding virtually no information about linking the two hikes, she decided to blaze her own trail and document it for future hikers.
On September 19, day 152 of her journey, Guo reached Kakwa Lake in British Columbia's Rocky Mountains, overwhelmed with emotion. In her final trail video, she offered advice to others: "If there's something out there that calls to you, I hope you listen. Give yourself permission to do the thing."
Having completed her epic trek, Guo has decided to leave her corporate career permanently to help others discover the transformative power of trail hiking, proving that extraordinary achievements are within reach for "normal" people willing to take that first step.
