Continental Divide Trail Days

Gabaccia Moreno is a first-generation Mexican-American multi-disciplinary creator, consultant, and passionate outdoor advocate #ExploringResponsibly wherever life takes her. Having grown up in Veracruz, Mexico to a family of hunters and ranchers gave her an appreciation for the land and its wildlife at an early age. Today she serves as National Monuments Fellow for Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, where she is involved in the creation of national campaigns, like the Outdoor F.U.T.U.R.E. and the Monumental SHIFT, seeking to make the outdoors more equitable and protecting our lands and waters. She’s also the Executive Director of The Outdoorist Oath, an organization creating educational tools and models to help and encourage people to become allies for planet, inclusion, and adventure. In 2021, Gabaccia was the resident host for the She Explores podcast and a contributor at Backpacker.com. In her free time, you’ll find her outside, probably fishing, hunting, hiking, or backpacking.

View the film Hike the Divide, and enjoy a question and answer period with filmmaker and hiker Connor DeVane.

“Hike the Divide: A Conversation about Climate Action on the Continental Divide Trail” follows filmmaker Connor “Bard” DeVane on his 2016 southbound thru hike as he seeks hope in the face of climate breakdown. The film shares the stories of community problem solvers and grassroots activists he meets, marking a trail from apathy and resignation to hope and engagement. Hike the Divide presents a spectrum of approach to climate solutions, including regenerative farming, municipalization of utilities, non-violent civil disobedience and more. Join us to watch a shortened “teaser” version of the film, cut just for CDTC Trail Days, and to participate in a conversation with Connor about the Continental Divide’s climate future, ways to get engaged with climate solutions, filmmaking while hiking and more.”

Connor “Bard” DeVane (2016 SoBo) is an independent filmmaker, writer, community organizer, permaculture designer, and lover of the living earth. All his work is centered on changing the narrative of human-kind’s relationship to the community of life. He grew up in various suburbs of various American mega-cities until having his perspective split wide open by the Pacific Crest Trail in 2014. He currently lives in Sonoma County, California where he works with Daily Acts Organization to build connected, equitable and climate resilient communities.

Storytelling is Derick Lugo’s forte; he’s the author of the popular book, The Unlikely Thru-Hiker, a humorous memoir of his 6-month hike of the entire Appalachian Trail. He has written several pieces for outdoor magazines, short stories for various books and is currently working on two new books, including a children’s book. He’s a sought-after keynote speaker, adventurer, and host of the Unlikely Stories Podcast.
To learn more about Derick Lugo, his new writing projects, and his next adventure, follow him on Instagram, Facebook and at www.dericklugo.com

About The Unlikely Hiker
Derick Lugo had never hiked, camped, or pitched a tent a day in his life. He certainly couldn’t imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job cut short and no immediate plans or responsibilities, this Brooklyn-born, New York City urbanite began to contemplate the possibilities several months of free time could offer him. The Appalachian Trail was the set stage from a book read years ago, attempting to hike all 2,192 miles was never a serious thought, yet suddenly he found himself asking, “Could I do it?” The Unlikely Thru-Hiker is the story of a young black man setting off from the big city with an extremely overweight pack and a willfully can-do attitude. What follows are lessons on preparation, humility, race relations, and nature’s wild unpredictability. Through it all, Derick (Mr. Fabulous) refuses to let any challenge squash his inner Pollyanna, persevering with humor, tenacity, and an unshakeable commitment to grooming that sees him from Georgia to Maine.

Amiththan ‘BitterGoat” Sebarajah is a writer, distance hiker and a collector of stories. First generation refugee, Amiththan’s family fled a civil war to settle in Canada. His first solo backpacking trip was a thru hike, on the Appalachian Trail in 2013 at the tender age of 31. He has since hiked over 7k miles worldwide and advocates for diversity in the outdoors as well as diverse ways of approaching the outdoors. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Continental Divide Coalition. This year, you can follow him along on the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trails as he walks for his Triple Crown. As a transplant to North America & survivor of civil war his advocacy and activism are rooted in the ways in which land as a socio-political construct and lived reality underpin belonging. Amiththan believes that “movement is medicine,” that a prolonged walk is both therapeutic and meditation. He currently lives in a glacial valley in British Columbia, the ancestral homelands of the Ktunaxa people and the Grizzly bear.