In March 2025, I loaded up my KTM 690 Enduro and set out on an eight-month journey that would take me from the Canadian border to Mexico, following the Continental Divide and the Trans-American Trail through some of the most breathtaking landscapes in North America.
What started as a sabbatical became something more—a reset, a reconnection with the land, and a reminder of why I got into construction and environmental consulting in the first place: to build things that respect the places we inhabit.
The Route
The journey covered nine national parks: Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon. I traversed national forests including Arapaho-Roosevelt, White River, Gunnison Gorge, Pike-San Isabel, and Coconino. The Continental Divide served as my north star, guiding me from Montana's rugged peaks to the desert Southwest.
I didn't just pass through the Grand Canyon—I explored its depths, hiking into landscapes that put human scale into perspective. Standing at the bottom, looking up at billions of years of geological history, you understand something about time and permanence that no textbook can teach.
By the Numbers
- 4,300 miles by KTM 690 Enduro
- 8,500 miles by truck (support vehicle)
- 500 miles mountain biking
- 200 miles hiking
- 9 National Parks
- 4 14,000-foot summits
- 8 months on the road (March - October)
The Summits
Colorado's fourteeners called to me. I summited Pikes Peak, where Katharine Lee Bates wrote "America the Beautiful." I climbed Maroon Bells, those iconic twin peaks near Aspen. Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park tested my limits. And Mount Elbert—at 14,440 feet, the highest point in Colorado—gave me a view that stretched forever.
Each summit taught the same lesson: preparation matters, conditions change, and you have to know when to push and when to turn back. The same principles apply to construction projects.
"Every river I fished reminded me that water connects everything—mountains to valleys, headwaters to deltas, upstream decisions to downstream consequences."
The Rivers
I fly fished every river from Glacier Park to the Grand Canyon. The Missouri, Yellowstone, Colorado, Gunnison, 11 Mile, and every tributary in Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes to Boulder. Some days I caught fish. Most days I caught perspective.
As someone who works in stormwater management and NPDES compliance, spending months on rivers changed how I see my work. Every river I fished reminded me that water connects everything—mountains to valleys, headwaters to deltas, upstream decisions to downstream consequences. What we do on construction sites matters far beyond the property lines.
What I Brought Back
Eight months of solitude, physical challenge, and natural beauty reset my priorities. I came back to Georgia with clarity about what Davis Construction Strategic Advisors should be: a consulting practice that brings the same respect for land and long-term thinking to construction that I experienced on the trail.
Sustainable construction isn't just a credential to pursue or a box to check. It's about understanding that what we build today will be here long after we're gone—like the mountains, like the rivers, like the parks that took millions of years to form.
The Trans-American Trail gave me 4,300 miles to think about that. Now it's time to put it into practice.
Follow my adventure content on YouTube @gotrekit.