Trailblaze Challenge: 28.3mi Day Hike with Make-A-Wish

I’ve never really considered myself an endurance event kinda gal. I’m not a biker, and I wouldn’t say that I love running (unless I’m running up a mountain to catch a sunset, which is a different story). It’s no secret that I LOVE hiking. When I learned about the Trailblaze Challenge, a hiking endurance event for an incredible cause, I knew I had to participate. Keep reading to learn more about the Trailblaze Challenge and why it’s so impactful!

In this blog post, I’ll walk you through my experience as a first-time Trailblazer in 2022 and everything you need to know about participating in the Trailblaze Challenge. I would love to see y’all on the trail next year!

Disclaimer: This page may contain affiliate links where I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

What is the Trailblaze Challenge?

I know hiking 28.3 miles in a day might sound just a *wee* bit crazy, but let me explain. I’ll go over the why before I get into the nitty-gritty of the hike.

Make-A-Wish Central & Western NC organizes this incredible event each year. In case you’re not familiar: Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit whose mission is to create life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses.

Each Trailblazer helps raise funds that go towards granting wishes of children in Central & Western North Carolina with critical illnesses. Wish testimonies never fail to pull at my heartstrings. Once you understand the impact of a wish, you realize that it’s an honor to be a part of something so special.

Now that you have a bit more background as to why the heck someone would voluntarily sign up to hike so many miles in one day, let’s talk about the hike! The Trailblaze Challenge is a 28.3-mile day hike along the Foothills Trail in NC and SC.

Hiking 20+ miles in one day might sound intimidating, but don’t worry if you’re not a seasoned hiker! I was so impressed by the diversity of hikers at this event — trust me when I say that there were people of all ages and experience levels. And it’s all because Make-A-Wish does such an awesome job of preparing Trailblazers in the months leading up to the event and supporting them throughout the big day.

Pre-Hike

There are two important pre-hike activities: fundraising and training hikes. As I said, the Make-A-Wish team does everything in their power to set you up for success when it comes to both of these things.

Trailblaze Challenge Fundraising

Each trailblazer is asked to raise funds to help grant wishes and cover their expenses! This is a critical part of the Trailblaze Challenge. As a Trailblazer, you’ll get an online fundraising page where you can direct friends/family to donate to support your hike.

If you need some inspiration when it comes to fundraising, check out this handy PDF Make-A-Wish put together with fundraising tips! I love the idea of having a garage sale and donating a portion of the proceeds to Make-A-Wish as part of my fundraising efforts. We have a ton of items we don’t use anymore in our garage, so I’m definitely giving this a try next year!

Trailblaze Challenge Training Hikes

Even as an experienced hiker, so many questions went through my mind about the Trailblaze Challenge: What can I do to prepare myself for such a long day hike? What do I pack? Will I be hiking by myself? What boots do I wear? What socks do I wear? What if something happens and I can’t finish the hike for some reason or another?

I found answers to all of these questions by participating in the training hikes Make-A-Wish organizes in the months leading up to the event. The training hikes allowed me to test my gear, helped me connect with other Trailblazers (SO helpful to talk to hikers who had done the challenge before), and enabled me to build stamina over time.

Make-A-Wish sends out the training hike schedule well in advance of the big day, so you have plenty of time to plan! The training hikes start under 5 miles and progress to 20+ miles over several months. This allows Trailblazers to build up their endurance over time!

Hike Weekend

Before hike weekend, Trailblazers receive a “Hike Weekend Packet” with all the info you need (packing list, an itinerary for the whole weekend, event contacts, trail information, and more). You’ll want to have this document handy throughout hike weekend, so make sure to hang on to it.

Day 1 – Friday: Arrive in Lavonia, GA

Get a good night’s rest on Thursday night because you probably won’t get a whole lot of sleep on Friday! Even though I wanted to go to bed early, the anticipation kept me up on Friday evening.

My drive to Lavonia is when it officially set in that I had agreed to hike 28 miles in one day. I started to question my sanity a little, but I was excited nonetheless! In typical me fashion, I made a detour to do a little hiking in NC on the way down to GA.

After checking into the hotel in Lavonia, GA, you’ll have some time to relax before the carb-loading pasta party hosted by Make-A-Wish! This is a great time to connect with other hikers (both first-time Trailblazers and seasoned veterans) — that way you can look for familiar faces throughout the big hike! During the dinner, there’s a helpful presentation on what to expect on hike day.

Day 2 – Saturday: Hike Day

The big day!!! Even though I wouldn’t say I got a restful night’s sleep, I woke up around 3:30 AM feeling pretty energized! I got ready and made my way to the lobby for breakfast. After breakfast, everyone loads up in the vans to be transported to the trailhead.

Once you get to the trailhead, you find your group! Everyone is assigned a group so that a huge group of people isn’t hitting the trail at the same time. My group started hiking at 5:15 AM (everyone hikes in the dark with headlamps for a bit). You don’t have to hike with your group the whole time, though! You’re 100% free to go at your own pace (and you absolutely do not have to hike all 28.3 miles if you need to call it quits for any reason at all).

Throughout the hike, there are several aid stations with the most amazing volunteers waiting to address any needs you might have whether that’s more water, snacks, medical attention, etc. They also cheer you on, which is super motivating!

Personally, I decided not to track mileage and was focused on making it to the next aid station (I knew what milestones they were at throughout the hike) and this worked well for me! I feared I’d constantly look down at my fitness tracker if I actively tracked mileage.

I crossed the finish line 9.5 hours later at 3:30 PM. The rest of my body felt pretty good, but my feet were begging for mercy for the last 6 miles. Somehow, I made it out without any blisters (shoutout to Darn Tough and Salomon). I don’t think it has ever felt so good to sit down!

Day 3 – Sunday: Post-Hike

Saying I woke up feeling STIFF would be an understatement. While it’s tempting to stay in bed all day, I highly recommend stretching and keeping your body moving after the big hike.

Believe me when I say that you’ll want to hang around for the post-hike Victory breakfast if you participate in the Trailblaze Challenge. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s a really special experience!

Recommendations & Final Thoughts on the Trailblaze Challenge

I thought I’d share my recommendations in case you plan on doing the Trailblaze Challenge (or any long-distance hikes for that matter) in the future.

• A hydration bladder (included on Make-A-Wish’s packing list) is KEY. I ordered this 3L hydration bladder off Amazon and love it. It’s affordable, has a cover for the mouthpiece, and doesn’t taste like plastic.
• Pack lots of snacks! They have snacks at the aid stations, but it’s not a bad idea to pack your own in case you get hungry between aid stations. I packed turkey jerky, Honey Stinger waffles, GU energy gels, dried fruit, and a few protein bars.
• Pack a special treat for whenever you reach the point of, “Wtf was I thinking when I signed up for this?” Mine was Oreos 🙂
• You NEED to pack extra socks. I can’t reiterate this enough. Being able to change into a new pair of socks halfway through the hike felt amazing. I love these Darn Tough socks for hiking whether I’m hiking 2 miles or 20+ miles.
• Make sure to test all your gear (shoes, socks, pack, etc.) on the training hikes. You don’t want any big surprises on hike day!

All in all, I’m honored I was able to be a part of something so special. It was my first-ever endurance event, and I’m in awe of how much more capable I am than I thought! I might’ve ended the day with really sore feet, but sore feet are nothing in comparison to what wish recipients and their families go through.

I’d love to hear about your experience if you’ve ever participated in the Trailblaze Challenge — tell me in the comments! And I’d REALLY love to see some of y’all at next year’s hike. You can contact Emily Gibson at events@nc.wish.org for more information. If you cannot participate in the Trailblaze Challenge but still want to give back to this incredible organization, consider giving or volunteering!

By the way, I’m more than happy to answer any questions you might have about the experience — leave them in the comments or shoot me a DM on IG!