Last week, I received an email from an editor at WordPress stating that my post about Day 10 on the John Muir Trail (Kearsarge Pass to Guitar Lake) would be featured on their Freshly Pressed feeder. I was incredibly excited, as I always read the posts on Freshly Pressed and see them as some of the best WordPress bloggers have to offer. Selfishly, I always wondered what it would take to be featured, and hoped that one day I’d have the opportunity.
My blog post was officially posted to the Freshly Pressed page on Friday, and the response has been incredible. As of right now, the post has 320 blogger likes and I’ve received close to 250 new blog followers. Â I’d like to give a huge thank you to all of the new followers of this blog, and an even bigger thank you and digital hug to all of my original followers for helping make this happen. The sense of community among bloggers is what makes WordPress so special, and I truly appreciate that you guys take the time to read and support Trail to Peak!
The other bit of good news this week is that one of my reviews was featured on Backcountry.com. Backcountry.com is one of the few online retailers of outdoor gear that actually provides useful reviews for the active user. Backcountry does a great job of fostering a sense of community among reviewers to their site. On Thursday, I recieved a post message stating that my picture of Isla, and a review of the Cloud Chaser Dog Jacket would be featured at the bottom of their home page.
I’d like to give one last thank you to all of the followers of this blog and hope to provide you a lot more to read in the months and years ahead. I’ll continue to focus on hiking, adventure travel, and gear reviews, but would love to branch out and try some new things as well. Please leave comments  on any and all blog posts with advice or thoughts, as it helps me a great deal to get community feedback. Have a great weekend, and happy blogging!
Best regards, Drew
Well done, Drew! The John Muir trail series is a great one, I really enjoyed it and it does deserve to be in Freshly Pressed, well done again!
Thank you very much! I appreciate the kind words and thanks for reading along 🙂
Congratulations Drew! As you know, I was inspired by your John Muir series and it absolutely deserves the recognition. I’m looking forward to reading more of your work and going back to some of your adventures (both Camino de Santiago and Peru trek are on my list). I appreciate blogs like yours with great writing and photography, and helpful info for planning.
Thank you, Caroline!! My Peru treks are pretty polished, but my Camino posts need some work. Those were the very first entries on my old blog, and I transferred them over. It’s funny for me to look back at those and see how far things have come 🙂 Thanks for reading along!
That’s awesome! Congrats!!!!
Thank you!
This is great, Drew! You have a wonderful blog with beautiful photographs… it’s so great to be recognized in these ways. I’m cheering for you! 🙂
Thanks, Nadine! I really appreciate it. I first tried my hand at blogging to document my journey on the Camino. The pilgrimmage has created such a beautiful path in my life in this regard 🙂
Wow! What an amazing accomplishment!! You definitely deserve it!!!! Love your blog!
-Sara
Thank you, Sara!!
Nice one dude
Thanks!
Congrats!
Thank you!
Congrats! This is awesome! 🙂 yey!
Thank you, Aryan!
That’s brilliant news, congratulations! You have a great blog and deserve it 🙂
Thank you very much!
Great news, I echo the compliments and congratulations. 🙂
Thanks, Shellie!
Congratulations. That’s really awesome.
Thank you!
Congratulations!! Well deserved recognition!! Keep up what you are doing. We all love to read along!
Thank you, much appreciated!
I saw you freshly pressed the other day and was so excited for you! Great stuff!
Thanks, Anna!
Because you have awesome posts!
Thank you 🙂
Very cool! Congratulations! Still hoping to get discovered too, haha 😉
Thank you! Keep writing and it will happen!
Awesome! You really deserved it!! 🙂
Thank you, Lily!
Congratulations!
Thank you!
Congrats, Drew! So this “Freshly Pressed” thing isn’t a myth, eh… 🙂 Well deserved!
Thanks, Kendra! I always wondered how the posts were selected, so it was pretty cool to receive that email!