25-Year-Old Colorado Woman Hiked 485 Miles Unsupported

On August 23, 25-year-old Colorado native Sophia Tang completed a 485-mile hike. This would be incredible in and of itself, but in addition, she backpacked from Denver to Durango without mailing herself supplies, stopping at a store or using any other kind of support.

Tang carried all of her supplies on her back and lived off of ProBars, coconut oil, two small pouches of peanut butter, hydrogen water, energy chews and a pound of pecan halves, according to the Denver Channel.

Tang began her trip on August 2 and had only planned to travel for nine days, but instead, it was another 12 days before she reached the end of her hike.

She began to run short on water following summer drought conditions, and also ran low on food about halfway through her trip.

Tang told the Denver Channel, “the food situation was interesting in that manner … just because I wanted to go a certain distance, but my body was like, ‘You're not putting enough energy or fuel into me and we cannot go that far right now.’"

Part of what lengthened her trip were unplanned meetings with other travelers. She encountered people riding horses, and later, on dirt bikes. Each group offered her a ride, so she decided, "life is short" and hopped on for some adventures before they dropped her back off at the same spot they found her.

When she reached her destination, Tang's parents were waiting for her at the end of the trail.

“It really wasn't about what I did, but who I became,” Tang told the Denver Channel. “And so, I was dreading the end but then I was also kind of excited to see and to bring everything that I learned from this experience back into this world that has, more or less, stayed the same while I was gone".