Adventuring with MS: Year 1 & 2025 Review

This is a bit of a post unlike most I post on here (but then again, do I have a particular style aside from feral ramblings with lots of photos?!), but I wanted to do this. For myself, and for the random person that may stumble upon my corner of the internet who has MS and is worried about what the future holds.

Backstory: On November 4, 2024, I was diagnosed with remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis (RRMS for short, or MS for even shorter and how I will refer to it here on out in this blog). It was a journey that begun about two years prior. For brevity, I am not going to recount my entire diagnosis story in this post, but later on I will link to a podcast I was a guest on where I recount the whole story if those that are interested in listening. I was scared, as I am an active person that likes to squirrel between sports and activities, and tries to always have some adventure coming up. Though life is unpredictable no matter who you are, MS added another complicating layer of uncertainty in my future. The internet was scary, and I was pretty convinced that I would be immobile and unable to do anything fairly quickly. I have always lived my adult life more or less in a YOLO (You Only Live Once) style, and MS has accelerated that!

So I dived into life, trying new things, and holding dear the things I have always done. Here is what I got up to November 2024 through December 2025!

November 2024

With my diagnosis came a flurry of blood tests (18 vials were taken!) and an appointment to discuss my disease modifying therapy (DMT). I opted to start on Ocrevus, an infusion twice a year that eliminates my B cells, a component of my immune system. Aside from medical stuff, I flew with my bestie to Walla Walla, Washington, for Grenache Fest – more specifically, the Ben Gibbard solo concert. We had a cancelled flight due to a winter storm in Denver, so we ended up just spending one night for the concert (but all that matter is that we made the concert… and we did!). Along the way we squeezed in an entirely too short trip to Whitman Mission National Historic Site. The month wrapped up with me getting back on a bicycle with a giant ice vest to help control symptoms when my body temperature increased. It worked… okay… but I was still pretty symptomatic.

December 2024

December kicked off with a work trip to New Orleans for a conference. Luckily there was time for some play along with work! I enjoyed the French Quarter, and we even got to participate in a second line parade! In my off hours I nabbed my 91st and 92nd NPS units, New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park and Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve. To wrapped up New Orleans, we did a marathon sprint through the National World War II Museum. This is a fantastic museum encompassing everything about the era of World War II, and our few hours was not nearly enough to see a fraction of the exhibits!

After New Orleans, December became busy with ever-increasing calls to insurance, neurology offices, and infusion clinic trying to get my initial Ocrevus infusions all set up. The biggest advice I can give a newly-diagnosed MS person is to advocate, advocate, advocate! Yes, the calls get exhausting along with herding cats into doing what you need them to do, but it is worth it.

I wrapped up the month by skiing (yay, no issues with skiing!), taking an introduction to indoor rock climbing class with my bestie, and on New Year’s Eve my friend, Tom, and I headed up to The Loch in Rocky Mountain National Park. Initially I had planned for us to go all the way to Sky Pond, but I found myself tiring really fast. It was also 14 degrees out, and Tom was bundled up in all his warm layers… and I was debating stripping down to my sports bra and was sticking my face in the snow to try to cool down my body and get the vertigo under control…

January 2025

2025 kicked off by killing off my B cells! Here’s to starting my DMT journey, and hoping stopping MS in its tracks! The month otherwise was not too adventuresome, and I just tried to get out to my local park to walk laps and try to get my body use to moving a lot again. I also bought a walking pad so I can walk indoors on days the weather is less than ideal.

February 2025

Well this month was pretty boring in my camera roll… I did go indoor climbing again, getting signed off to climb at the gym in Fort Collins which was pretty exciting! Realizing I needed to start hiking again, I did Hewlett Gulch on Super Bowl Sunday. I experienced the greatest thing ever… no heat intolerance! I was halfway up the climb when I realized I was sweating and was hot… but like a normal person! No vertigo, no blurry vision, nothing! I stopped and nearly started crying as I was so worried I would not be able to do outdoor activities anymore due to not being able to tolerate any increase in my body temperature.

March 2025

March was a kickoff to lots of activity, with hikes at Red Mountain Open Space, Eagles Nest Open Space, Sheep Mountain, and Curt Gowdy State Park. But even better, I was able to ride a bicycle again outdoors symptom free! I had not been able to ride a bike after September due to insane symptoms. I started with an easy ride to the post office and back, and then dived into a nearly 30 mile long ride to get pie in Fort Collins.

April 2025

I had forgotten how busy April was until I scrolled through my camera roll. Hiking wise, I started off the month with an eleven-mile hike at Red Mountain Open Space in surprise snowy conditions. I also went trail running (this is how I know I have holes in my brain…. I started running in 2025!) at the Schoolyard Trails outside of Laramie. I rounded out my hikes with jaunts at Curt Gowdy State Park and by climbing Greyrock Mountain.

Aside from hiking, I had spent a good chunk of money this spring upgrading my backpacking gear to much lighter versions. Yes, I used my MS as an excuse, ha! Less pack weight, less fatigue? My new quilt and tent arrived to my joy!

Janice, her son, and I took a day trip to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and Wind Cave National Park. While at Wind Cave we took the Fairgrounds Tour (blog post here), finally getting underground since the elevator was closed during our trip to the park the previous year.

Finally… I took two work trips in April. The first one was to Indianapolis, and on my return flight home I flew in first class for the first time ever. It was odd, and I had no idea what to do… but the food was good! The second trip was to Spokane, where I spoke at my first national conference since 2020. I really enjoyed exploring Spokane, and it became one of my favorite cities I’ve traveled to for work!

May 2025

After starting off May with a hike up to the top of Horsetooth with Janice, I traveled to the western end of Wyoming for work. As the queen for adventuring in my downtime, I hiked to Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park after an absolutely insane thunderstorm came through. I rounded out this work trip by visiting Fossil Butte National Monument, sneaking in a hike while racing rainstorms on the Historic Quarry Trail (which I should make a whole blog post for…). I also took the chance to stretch my legs for ten minuates at a roadside stop for Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Memorial Day Weekend marked getting back on the mountain bike for the first time since September. Going big to go home, I did the new Pilot Hill trails as a shuttle run all the way from Happy Jack. Yeah, I don’t know how to ease into things! Next day after mountain biking, I ran a 5k on the trails at Happy Jack, coming in a surprising 11th place.

June 2025

June was another busy month. After calypso orchid hunting at Happy Jack, I headed to northwestern Wyoming for my weekend at “summer camp, ” or Becoming an Outdoors Woman (blog post here). I camped one night in Sinks Canyon State Park before heading to the camp location at Whiskey Mountain Conservation Camp. While in the area, I hiked to Lake Louise which has been on my list a long time (blog post here)!

After getting back home, I had my first round of MRIs since starting my DMT – head, cervical spine, and thoracic spine. Thankfully no contrast this time around, so they all went quicker! And to boot, no changes and all my brain and spinal lesions are stable! Woohooo! I “celebrated” my MRI results by my annual tradition of climbing Medicine Bow Peak mountaineering style. Though the summit wasn’t obtained, it was still a good day playing with sharp, spiky things and mountaineering boots.

I rounded out June by doing something I swore I would NEVER do: buying a standup paddle board (SUP)! I am terrified of water, but dammit, I decided I really wanted a SUP. I took it for a spin at two locations at Curt Gowdy State Park: the causeway of Granite Reservoir and North Crow Reservoir. I surprisingly took to standing on it quite easily, and found it to be good therapy for retraining my brain to handle conflicting vision inputs (such as forward motion added with waves) and balancing.

July 2025

The highlight of July was two weeks off of work to explore northwestern Wyoming. Though the trip ended up not being what I had hoped for at all, I still got to tick off amazing things such as SUP-ing at String and Leigh Lakes in Grand Teton National Park, hiking to Amphitheater Lake, and backpacking two nights in Yellowstone National Park. I wrote seven blog posts, so it would be lengthy to link them all, but the first one in the series is here.

After coming home from vacation a week early (which worked out in the end, as I flared up some nasty bursitis in my right heel in a hard lesson learned about shoes my feet like for backpacking), I squeezed in one last hike in with Janice and Taylor to several alpine lakes in the Snowies.

August 2025

Oh man… August was a big month! I started out by exploring a brand new area for me, the Rawah Wilderness and Blue Lake (blog post here). Then came something I was horribly underprepared for: my first half marathon! I am not sure how wise it is to do a “couch-to-half marathon” approach, but I survive the Med Bow Rail Trail Half Marathon. I set a goal of finishing by three hours. The first six miles or so I was strong, and I on course to finish in 2:30-2:45… then my body reminded me I hadn’t run in months. I ended up finishing in 3:03:53, so nearly my goal. Yes, I barely could walk the next week…

Next on tap was a weekend camping in the Snowies with Janice. We were both needing some camping time, as we had been missing my tent since our big PNW road trip the previous year. And… I took Janice up Medicine Bow Peak!! I am always excited when I can summit my favorite mountain in the whole world with friends, and I was super proud of Janice’s strong effort on the full seven-mile loop. We finished up the long weekend with SUP action on Mirror Lake in horrendously windy conditions. Janice had just purchased her SUP, so I am looking forward to more water adventures with her the coming summer.

The highlight of my entire year came later in August during my section hike of the Continental Divide Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. The 35-mile, 3-night, 4-day trip went spectacularly well, and I breathed a big sigh of relief knowing my body is capable of longer backpacking trips! The first blog post in the series is found here.

My Labor Day Weekend was a low-key affair due to my big trip the weekend prior, and other plans falling through. I did go play tourist in Rocky Mountain National Park, first driving up Old Fall River Road (which I have cycled up several times), nabbing passport stamps at the Alpine Visitor Center, and then heading back down Trail Ridge Road. I stopped for a short walk to the Toll Memorial on the Tundra Communities Trail. It was overall way too peopley for my liking. I’ll stick to the backcountry, thanks!

September 2025

September is always a month of winding down, and 2025 was no different. I did accomplish a final backpacking trip, heading to Rocky Mountain National Park’s Mirror Lake with my friend, Tom (blog post here). The hike in was hot and exposed, and I just felt like crap. This really affected me mentally, especially since I had been so strong just a few weeks earlier on my CDT section hike. Thank you, body, for reminding me of my situation… but overall it was still lovely weekend in a little-visited part of the park!

I had another weeklong work trip also, made more fun by my coworker and friend, Lindsey, joining me. Since Lindsey is new to Wyoming, I went into full tour guide mode in our off hours, and we enjoyed amazing fall colors in Sinks Canyon outside of Lander. We ended our trip with a stop at the Carbon County Visitor Center, where I went into full CDT geek mode. I rounded out the month with a hike at Happy Jack, catching the tailend of the fall colors up there!

October 2025

Apparently my half marathon did not teach me anything, and I found myself in the ten mile Silent Trails Memorial Race. I was dead last by a lot, and my MS made sure to remind me the whole race that it was there with pretty awful foot drop. I ended up walking the last several miles after I took a hard fall and cut my knee open. I was actually pretty embarrassed coming across the finish line as I felt so bad that everyone had to wait for me!

Sadly, due to the federal government shutdown, Janice and I had to cancel a week-long trip to New Mexico. It was pretty heartbreaking to have to do so, but literally every single thing we had planned (Trinity Site Open House and eight NPS units) were all shuttered. I tried to make up for the disappointment by hiking to Kruger Rock, which didn’t work (blog post here). The following weekend I hiked to Sandbeach Lake, which was more of an adventure – beach day at 10,000 feet! (blog post here).

November 2025

Since winter was never seeming to come… Janice and I got out for a hike on El Alto in Curt Gowdy State Park. I also went running at Crystal Reservoir… this running stuff, I swear! Then I enjoyed some city aurora chasing as some of the craziest northern lights I have ever seen exploded above my house! Janice, Taylor, and I did two hikes, Bridal Veil Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park and a loop through Red Mountain Open Space. I also did a short hike on Black Friday on the scarily dry and dusty trails at Happy Jack.

My friend and head & neck cancer survivor and thriver, Jay Middleton, invited me to be a guest on his podcast, The Human Reboot Project, to talk about my MS diagnosis (along with other things, like my car racing past!). I was super excited and honored to be a guest. My episode (which includes my diagnosis story that I alluded to in the introduction of this post) can be found on YouTube here, or wherever you prefer to listen to your podcasts elsewhere (like Spotify).

Oh, and it goes without mention… November 4th was my one year MS anniversary. I didn’t find myself making as much hoopla as I thought I would. If anything, I’ve just come to realize that time marches on… and my first year was one hell of a good adventure!

December 2025

This really has turned into a 2025 recap in general I suppose, and I want to leave everything nice and even… so December recap, here it is!

My final work conference trip of the year took me to Palm Springs, California, which I was incredibly happy about. Not for the work stuff, but the small adventures to be had! Looking back, I really wish I took some personal leave days and extended my trip, as it is a fantastic area! The mini adventure started with a rental car and quick jaunt through my 93rd NPS unit, Joshua Tree National Park! With limited daylight and two coworkers in tow, it was a drive-through visit, with quick stops at Keys View Point and Skull Rock. Joshua Tree NP is definitely worthy of a more thorough visit than what I gave it, but I took when I got!

The highlight was my 7 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail outside of Palm Springs early one morning (blog post here). I had never hiked any miles on the PCT, and I found myself tearing up as I hiked up the trail. How fantastic is this thing I get to call my life? For a few hours I was solo in the desert, taking in the fresh air and expansive views… and I got to forget how I would soon be in a stuffy conference center, glaring at everyone coughing, and hoping I wouldn’t come home with an infection that would compromise some aspect of my life, or delay the upcoming Ocrevus infusion.

Oh, and we ate at Sizzler. ‘Nuff said! (Definitely not as good as I remember it being as a kid in the late 1980s, but anytime I get to do something related to a lyric by The Ataris, I am happy!)

Crap gap hit me hard by Christmas, which I wasn’t expecting. (For those not in the know, “crap gap” refers to a worsening of MS symptoms people feel leading up to their next dose of their DMT.) I got out for a 3 mile run (in summer clothes, mind you) on Christmas, and otherwise was pretty lazy. I fell twice in the course of that week, and took to the usual non-drunken stumbling and foot drop. Not to mention the crushing fatigue. However, I did not let this stop me from getting in one final hike on New Year’s Eve on a loop through Greyrock Meadows. I originally wanted to summit Greyrock Mountain, but couldn’t feel my legs for most of the hike up so opted to loop down through the meadow and call it a day.

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That’s my first year + two months with MS, folks!

Honestly, I am happy I did this recap as it forced me to go through my camera roll and realize the sheer about of things I did do this year. I’ve always been guilty of focusing on the things that didn’t work out (which there was plenty of in 2025), missing on recognizing everything that I did do.

What’s up for my second MS year, and 2026? I have a really really really big summer plan, but I am waiting on officially “announcing” it (unless you go listen to The Human Reboot Project episode of mine, as I talk about it there!). Otherwise, not a lot has been planned so far as I may need surgery on my elbow this spring (I’m medically expensive, what can I say?!). I do have a small getaway to a new national park coming up, but for fear of more government shutdowns and jinxing the whole thing, Ima keep mum. I’ll also do my usual permit lottery entries for Mount Whitney, The Enchantments, and Mount Rainier National Park… not too hopeful on any of those, but hey… stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and over expecting a different result!