She Became the First Woman to Complete This 3,600-Mile Thru-Hike—and Brought Thousands Along for the Journey

October 13, 2025

Jessica “Stitches” Guo began her 30th birthday alone, in the woods, walking north towards the Canadian border.

It was the same way she had spent the last few months of her 20s, during which she hiked from the Mexican border through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana along the Continental Divide Trail (CDT). This day, however, was different.

At 1:51 P.M. on August 12, Guo reached a clearing in the trees, where stone monuments marked the U.S.-Canada border and the northern terminus of the CDT. She collapsed into tears alongside some concerned tourists. When they learned what she had just done, they applauded and helped her record a video, which would be viewed by more than half a million people on TikTok and Instagram.

For a few minutes, Guo sat, welcoming her 30s with birthday-cake Oreos and taking it all in. Then, she stood and continued into Canada. Her journey was not over. In many ways, she felt as if it were just beginning.

After over 2,800 miles of hiking on the CDT, Guo was now beginning her thru-hike of the 750-mile Great Divide Trail, the second phase of a linkup that only two hikers had ever completed. The somewhat obscure linkup became common knowledge to the thru-hiking internet via Guo’s daily chronicles of her journey. Outside