Fifteen years ago, after hiking 211 miles of the John Muir Trail, I asked my fellow hikers to do something a little strange: take off their boots and pose them on the mountaintop.

That one image became the poster for our film, Mile… Mile & A Half.

I truly thought the adventure was ending when we set our boots down. (I mean, not quite, since there’s another 8 miles to get back down to the trailhead.)

We had imagined perhaps we could create an art installation so people could experience a piece of the trail, and that our footage would make for a fun behind-the-scenes video. But our editor, Ed Chin, saw something bigger. That BTS footage became a feature documentary.

From there, the journey took on a life of its own.

Our Kickstarter exceeded its goal—thanks in part to a surprise contribution from REI. Opus Orange performed at our events. Our premiere at Dances With Films sold out... then they added a second screening, and that sold out too. We landed in the Top 10 on iTunes (back when that was a thing!), and today the film is still included on Outside’s Best Outdoor Documentaries Ever and Backpacker’s 34 Awesome Outdoor Movies.

But the greatest gift wasn’t the accolades.

It was the people.

Our hiking partners became lifelong creative collaborators. We discovered that the backpacking community is one of the kindest and most welcoming groups you’ll ever meet. Sure, there were nay-sayers along the way, but 15 years later we still receive messages from people telling us how the film inspired them to get outside, reconnect with nature, or simply made them feel something.

So many “I can’t believe it” moments through it all. The boots are long gone, but the film and the memories live on.

In fact someone just quoted back “she’s a good eater. That’s why I married her.” IYKYK.Kinda makes me wanna lace up my newer boots and make another movie.