Day 29: "I was on the trail at 6 in about an hour the strong cold wind started blowing again, as I had my sleeves cut off my arms y wrists got very cold so I pulled my "extra' pair of socks on my arms. I passed the little town of Jefferson, then I crossed the divide over into the head of the N. fork of the S. Platte River. after hiking down along this for a couple miles I got a ride with a fellow who was going all the way to Denver, but after a few miles we got down into a nice y interesting canon that i like to examine little closer y perhaps take some pictures, so I got off on the excuse that it was too cold to ride then I hiked the rest of the way past a couple more little town y several summer camps y [unintelligible] down to the town of Bayley where I got me a can of P y Bs [pork and beans] y some R.O. Then I intended only to hike a couple of miles, y then find a nice camping place where it would not be so cold. But again I was offered a ride so I rode about 4 miles y that was ll uphill to, after that I tried to find a good campsite but was not very successful. It was impossible to get any good view today as it was been snowing in the mountains the whole day y tonight it is snowing here too days. I took a room in a hotel as the public camps are a long ways from the City."

Day 27: "Thursday 5/8 I had a good sleep last night, but this morning soon after I got on the way I had to face this strong Cold northwind y it has been blowing the whole day y is roaring overhead now. I had a rather uninteresting hike as far as "Fairplay," an old mining y cattle town, which I foud out is above 10000 ft. alt. I had noticed patches of snow here y there down in the valley this a.m. so I thought it must be pretty high. There has been considerable gold dredging operations goin on in the river bed at Fairplay. Sometime after lunch I kept on going, the road staying very high up near the lower edge fo the timber (there seems to be only a 1000 to 1500 ft (alt) strip of timber from timberline down to the open plains y valleys) to the town of Como where I bought a few groceries then after about 2 mile more I spyed [sic.] a thick willow patch a short distance from the road, which looked like it might give some shelter so I went over there y found a fairly good place although the ground is wet y there is several patches of snow nearby. It has been snowing off y to up in the mountains the whole day y getting worse tonight y every once in a while I get some of it here too. I managed to get some spruce boughs for my bed y I have lots of dead willows for fuel so I guess I will make it pretty good."

"My camp 5/2/24"

'I didn't sleep very well last night due to the cold.' Pete's journal entries for the next few days all begin with some variation of that line. After crossing into Colorado on May 1, he travels cross county for the better part of a week. Even he must have found it monotonous as he stops taking photographs for a while. As you can see in our reconstructed map of his route, he notes passing through Antonito, Alamosa, Monte Vista, and Buena Vista. We'll pick up his story again on May 8 as he heads towards Denver.

We know from his journals and previous research that Parsons came to America from Sweden. In 1909, Parsons and his friend Otto Witt got work on a four-masted freighter sailing from Germany to Oregon. As Barney Mann wrote in an article on Parsons for Backpacker magazine, "Parsons and Witt were both 20 years old and fleeing dismal prospects in Sweden and Germany. Witt had aroused the ire of the freighter's violent captain and the pair jumped ship in Portland, Oregon, rather than completing their contracted journey back to Europe."

Pete Parsons and Otto Witt, undated

Parsons and Witt made their way to Mill City and the Hammond Lumber mill. "The two soon fell into a pattern," Mann wrote, "Parsons would work in the lumber mill for a few months at a time and give the money to Witt, who served as his personal bank. Then Parsons would take off, exploring the Oregon Cascades and beyond."

Four-masted sailing ship

Parsons journals, photographs, and other records are now part of the Mazama Library and Historical Collections. His journals and photographs document his many adventures, including a previous hike in 1923 from Mill City to Kernville, California. That 1200 mile hike may have lit the spark that led him to hike from Mexico to Canada the following year.

"Heading north 5/1/24"

"May 1st Well I am camping in Colorado tonight among snowbanks 6 ft thick y at abt 1000 ft elev. I was on the way at 5.30 and got to Chama abt 8.00. There I left some film y got some more Y inquired abt my intended route, but everybody said I could not get through because of the snow. Well, I got enough grub to last me for 8-9 days, then I struck out, there

was both a road y a r.r. [railroad] going in my direction for a while. The road was impassable, nothing but soft nub so I followed the R.R. (a narrow gauge line belonging to the D y R.G.W.) up to where there was lots of snow here y tried the road for a ways as it was straighter, but the snow was so soft that I sank down to my knees every step y where the ground was bare it was mud y I had to go back down to the RR which I followed to abt 11 miles from Chama. here I cut up the hillside to the north along a bare strip of ground hoping to find a sheltered spot to camp so I

could cut across the snow tomorrow morning before it got soft. Finally I got u near the top of the ridge y here I found the snow pretty solid so I keept [sic.] going about a mile more to what looks like the last ridge, here camp, but the snow is dep nearly everywhere and the bare spots are soaking wet, but I cut a lot of spruce bough y I found a lot of dry limbs for fire wood. But by the time I got pretty well fixed up it started snowing y blowing, but it quit after a while y is clearing up but it will freeze pretty hard I expect. but that will make good going tomorrow morning. My [feet] was wet y got pretty cold

before I got camp fixed but socks y shoes are drying nicely now y I got a big supper under the belt so am feeling pretty good now. This is like camping in Alaska about this time of the year. Here is quite a few wolf or coyote [illegible] up here."

"In Arroyo Seco 4/29"

Day 18 "This morning I came across a large plain that forms an of the old spanish grant. Then I crossed the Rio Chama, a quite large stream than I headed up Arrayo Seco. Here I got a ride on a wagon up to Canjilon near the summit. Where I camped. I noticed some interesting rock in the valley I crossed today, [it] appears to be some kind of Obsidian or I believe it is commonly called flint it is of several different collars [sic.], black, blue, gray, yellow y white. and where the old surface are exposed they are covered with a white coating which could indicate that this flint rock has been inbedded [sic.] in the white lime-stone. I have not been close enough to the lime-stone cliffs to verify this."


This post is part of an ongoing story, told in real-time, of Pete Parsons journey in 1924. Over the next several months, we'll follow him using his photographs and journals to retrace his travels. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, and the Mazama blog as we track his progress and learn about him and his journey of a lifetime.

"Jemez NM"

Day 15 "This morning I left town [Albuquerque] abt 8 am after about a mile I got a ride through to Bernalillo 18 miles from there I got another ride to San Ysidro where I had lunch. I started off from Jemez Hot Springs and after 5-6 miles I got another ride to the Springs, all together I have come about 60 miles today. ... I have passed a couple of Indian pueblos and met a lot of the Indians, they all seem happy y contented y most of them have a piece of [unintelligible], they all wear a red band around the head. I have made so good progress today y it was so cold y wet that I took a room in a hotel tonight. People say there is too much snow north of here for me to get through, but I will try it tomorrow."

 Parsons passed through Jemez Pueblo, the ancestral home to members of the Jemez people. Today it is home to members of the Jemez and Pecos Tribes.

 As Barney Mann writes in "The Swede who showed America how to hike," in Parsons day there was no Continental Divide Trail, only the next ridge or pass to cross.* "Parsons pieced together prospectors' trails, old mine and timber tracks, railroad rights of way, long lengths of cross-country, and road-walking on two-lane highways. He was capable of 30-mile days and strung many together." Long before thru-hiking was a thing, his goal was to get there, if it meant taking a ride made the journey a little easier, so much the better.

 *Backpacker, Jan/Feb 2020

"On the trail in N.M. 4/24"

Day 13 "It as been interesting to note all along the valley the great number of red-winged blackbirds. This p.m. I got me a new knife on whim I removed the handle y ground down the shank in a machine shop y manana I will try to get the materials for another handle. I also got me some maps and have been planning my route ahead."

Parsons was also very good at taking photographs of himself, no small feat in an era before cameras were equipped with easy to use remote shutter technology. As you will see in the coming weeks, Parsons often trips the shutter with a length of twine.

Like most long trail hikers, Parsons was obsessed with weight, always on the lookout to trim a once here, and an once there. This is just one of many examples in his journal where he modifies something to either make it lighter or better fit his needs, be they functional or aesthetic.

"In the Cuchillo Canon" 

Day 11 "4/22 I was on the trail about 6 y I had hard to keep warm, after hiking 7-8 miles a [unintelligible] overtook me y it was the same fellow I rote with yesterday, he gave me a ride all the way to Magdalena (about 40 m.). Then after having dinner there I struck out over a shorth-cut towards Polvadera in the Rio Grande Valley y hiked about 12 miles. I was told I that I would find wather [sic.] before this, but I did't find any so this is nearly a dry camp as I drank most of what I carried before I camped. I found a lot of nice flowers around here that I put under my bed to keep everything from getting full of sand. ... I did't intend to come as far east yet, but the [unintelligible] was going east to beat the band so I was in Magdalena before I could lay a different course."

"View from camp"

"In the Cuchillo Canon"

Day 9 "This morning when I started for <> [Diamond] Peak, I thought I would take a short cut and climbed the wrong hill before I saw it, then when I finally got there, there was not much to come for, but the trail went over the top." Pete works his way cross country for several miles until he reaches a valley. "After going down this for a mile I can to a cabin where there was an old miner living who was just fixing up his dinner so he invited me to stay for some eats as I had nothing but R. oats left myself. He told me it was about 12 miles down to Cloride y 2 more to Fair View where there is a store."

 Day 7 "I had a pretty early start this morning and it was very cold, there was ice every where on standing water and wet ground. I was following up along Cherry Creek Canon to Red Rock R.S. here I branched off towards Scotts sawmill which is deserted except for a caretaker who told me where to find the trail. ... I have a nice camp tonight at the head of a stream. I don't know just where I am at, but it does not matter, I have plenty of grub and agua."

Day 4 "I did not sleep very well last night because the wind was blowing very hard and there was a lot of noise from the threes and it was still blowing very hard this morning so I did not dare to start a fire because there was dry pine needles all around. ... I found a cactus this p.m. that had some good juicy fruit on it. Then I was going to try the fruit of the cholla cactus. I could not feel any stingers on the fruit, but I guess there was some anyway for I got a lot of fine stingers in my thonge [sic.] and lips, I learned a lesson."

Day 2 "Last night I camped right on the open prairie, this morning I stopped at a ranch for a while to get some information about the country ahead but I found out that a lot of the younger people at least only know the country by the auto routes. Well I layd [sic] my route as straight as possible for a pass in the Chiricahua mountains where I expect to cross tomorrow."

Ninety-six years ago a young man started a journey. Over the next several months, we'll follow along in real time using his photographs and journals to retrace his travels. Don't know who Pete Parsons is? That's okay. Get to know him by joining us on Facebook, Instagram, and the Mazama blog as we track his progress and learn about him through his journey of a lifetime.

Day 1: "April 12, 1924. I left Douglas Arz. yesterday at 1 pm and headed north along a road that goes up to some ranches up in Spring valley. I carried about a gallon of water to start with, but I found out after a while that it was not necessary as I could get water at the ranches. It was cloudy and raining at times, I hiked barefoot."