TRIPLE CROWN

Three trails / 7,678 total miles / all on two feet

EDDIE JANICKI ’11 is a project engineer for a general contracting company in Seattle. In his free time, he is an avid hiker. He recently completed the “triple crown” of hiking—the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Continental Divide Trail ( CDT) and the Pacific Crest Trail ( PCT ) .

ONLY ABOUT 400 PEOPLE have completed these three trails in a lifetime, and most take four to six months to complete. Eddie hiked the first trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, in 2018, and he tackled it with his best friend Eric and Eric’s brother Marshall. They were together for almost the entire hike (about six months), splitting up from time to time.

The second trail was the Continental Divide Trail in 2020. He hiked this trail alone during the COVID-19 shutdown. He said he met few people on that trek, “probably 10-12 people on the North Bounders total. It was an extremely solitary experience. And it is the most remote and desolate of the three trails as it is.”

The third trail he completed was the Appalachian Trail in 2022. He started this hike alone but said he met many other hikers along the way. “This one is by far the busiest because it is the oldest of the three and I think more of the general public has learned about it over time.”

To complete the “triple crown,” he worked and saved money in between each trail. He quit his job for the first two hikes and took a leave of absence for the third. He had some minor sponsorships over the years, providing free gear with their products’ exposure.

Eddie said through this experience, he’s met people from all over the world, including Japan, Korea, China, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands and Germany. “One of the best friends I met on the CDT was a guy from Colorado, an ex-Navy commander. We only saw each other on three occasions, but they were all so memorable because we were both excited to see another thru-hiker. One occasion involved a moose stampede in the middle of the night when we were camping on the Colorado-Wyoming border. That was crazy. I could fill a whole book about the characters I’ve met.”

Janicki said many lessons learned at EC were helpful on the trail and in his life. “These hikes are really about grit and determination and willpower—so not exactly things you are directly ‘taught’ per se. Some of the lessons learned from my basketball coaches come to mind. Coach Kramer, Coach Rudy and Coach Coates would always say, ‘control the controllables.’ They taught us not to complain to referees because we can’t control them. But it directly applies to not complaining about other things like bad weather, wet feet or sketchy mountain pass crossings. There are tons of uncontrollables on trail, and you just have to go with the flow.”

“The thru-hiking lifestyle is very ‘alternative,’ I would say. So, you must be very comfortable with being yourself because you have a lot of alone time. Thinking back on EC, I still value to this day teachers who allowed students to be themselves and have fun. Mrs. Maletta was certainly one. Ms. McDermott was another. My freshmen year art teacher, Mrs. Nau, was amazing too at fostering creativity and being kind and gentle.”

Janicki said there’s no way to train for a six-month hike specifically. “I have always stayed in good shape throughout my life. My training during the trail years mostly involved skiing, mountain climbing, running and biking. You have to only think about one day at a time, and then three weeks into it, you realize your body is becoming strong. The mind leads, the body follows.”

On the trail, Janicki said a typical breakfast, lunch and other breaks are Cliff bars and protein pucks. For dinner, he would cook a hot meal like a “ramen bomb (ramen, peanut butter, tuna or beef stick, hot sauce), or other dehydrated options.” He said he would occasionally get Mountain House dehydrated meals from care packages from family.

“The greater point is that you just learn how to ignore your hunger pains. When you’re burning 5,000 calories a day, there’s no way to eat enough food. So, you just get by until you reach the next town, and that’s where you pig out and get your calorie count back up.”

According to Janicki, animal encounters were common on the trail and mostly uneventful. But there were scary moments too. “My scariest animal encounters were the first couple of times I saw moose. The first moose was near San Luis peak in southern Colorado. It stared at me for a while, then ran away. The second was near Estes Park in northern Colorado. I spooked a moose coming around a bend on a trail and was way too close for comfort. It immediately started snorting and stomping its front legs. I had my bear mace drawn and was slowly backing up. It eventually ran off after about a minute.

“I also had a grizzly bear encounter in the Yellowstone backcountry. A bear charged my tent as I was getting ready for bed. A ‘bear bluff’ experience. I shouted at it, as loud as I could and it ran off.”

Janicki was recently engaged and is currently planning his wedding. He’s enjoying being home for the time being and has no plans for significant hikes in the near future.

1988

Aaron Wood moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 2016. He is currently a professional services security consultant for Delinea and lives with his wife and two cats inside the Beltway. In his free time, he and his wife explore the Eastern and Southern U.S., attend EDM festivals and remote concerts, stream video games, compose electronic music, cheer on the Washington Nationals, and other events “living life out loud and to the fullest.”

1998

Chris Drewry had a busy pandemic: meeting, proposing to and marrying Samantha (Erdmier) Drewry in the living room of their 1890s former church. The couple welcomed Charles Ryan Drewry on August 6, 2022, and promptly moved to Winnetka, IL, north of Chicago.

2003

In her last year with Special Olympics, Justine Martin was awarded two gold medals in the 100-meter-walk at the State and regional track meets, where she set a personal best record. In 2022, Special Olympics featured her in their Athlete Spotlight, where she shared her thyroid cancer story; she has been cancer-free for two years. In October 2022, she moved with her grandmother to Marana, Arizona, to be closer to family and friends.

2008

Bobby Kubacki got engaged to his girlfriend Anne Temme on New Year’s Day at Willows Lodge in Woodinville. He celebrated with several classmates at Sumerian Brewing Company following the proposal. He is looking forward to a fun wedding with members of the Class of 2008.

2009

Matt Boyd was traded to the Seattle Mariners from the San Francisco Giants on August 2, and later signed a contract with the Detroit Tigers on December 14.

2010

Colin Caudill and Katie Hurlbut ’12 welcomed a daughter, Chase Diana Caudill on November 24.

2011

Kim Dinh earned a master’s in social policy in 2020, currently lives in Philadelphia with a big fluffy dog, and works as an illustrator, filmmaker and campaigner on social justice issues.

2012

Madeline Kossik has returned to Seattle and started her general surgery residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center after completing medical school and receiving her MD from New York Medical College.

Jillian Nichols and Jim Correa married in Seattle on September 24.

2013

Courtney Brown visited campus in November and met with Mrs. Maletta’s computer science classes to talk about her career in the tech industry. Courtney currently works as a software development engineer for Amazon and helps coach the EC fastpitch and golf teams.

2015

Marek Kossik graduated with an MS in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Washington, focusing on hydrology and hydrodynamics. He is a staff engineer at WEST Consultants, who provide specialized water resource engineering consulting.

Tristana Leist moved to New Zealand (Aotearoa) in Spring 2022 with her partner Brandon, for her work in sales for Amazon Web Services. Tristana is a dual citizen.

2016

Tara Murphy graduated from The University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and is a field engineer with GMF Steel Group in Tampa (Lakeland), Florida.

2017

Seth Buscho graduated from Baylor University in May 2021 with a degree in biology/pre-med. In June 2021 he married his college sweetheart, Carah Lyons (Ft. Worth, Texas) in the Smoky Mountains of TN. In July he and his wife moved to Galveston, TX where Seth began medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch. After completing his first year, he received two awards for outstanding achievements in neurology and research on eye diseases/Alzheimer’s, recently published in Experimental Eye Research. He will present his research at an ophthalmology conference in Australia in February 2023. He has also received an NIH grant to continue his eye research at UT. He’s enjoying married life and a new beagle puppy.

2021

Anthony Smith attends the University of Washington where he is also a track and field athlete. In 2022, he made the final in the 200m at the U20 World Championships in Cali, Columbia, placed 1st in the 200m and 3rd in the 100m at the U23 Mediterranean Championships in Italy, won the 200m at the Turkish senior national Championships, and broke the U20 national records in Turkey in both the 100m and 200m outdoor records and the 200m indoor record.

J.T. Tuimoloau just completed his sophomore season as defensive end for the Ohio State Buckeyes. In a standout

In Memoriam

To the following members of our EC community who have died, but whose spirits live on always in our hearts.

Michael Westover ’87

Peter Crumbaker ’96 game against Penn State, he had two interceptions, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He became the first player to accomplish this in an FBS game in the 21st century. Following that game, he was named Big Ten and National Defensive Player of the Week. In addition, he was named First-Team All-Big Ten Conference by league-wide votes from the head coaches and 28-member media panel. He is one of eight finalists for this year’s Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player of Polynesian ancestry that epitomizes great ability and integrity.