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Madeleine Urban

@madeforhorizon

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Madeforhorizon 🌍
Hiking • Running • Field Notes
Observations from the trail & beyond
GDT 🇨🇦 • 2026

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

I never planned for adventure to become such a big part of my life.

What started with one challenging trip to Iceland in 2021 slowly turned into something much bigger.

I discovered how little I actually needed. How strangers could become family. And how stepping into the unknown could change not only the way I see the world, but also myself.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that the lessons I learned out there didn’t stay on the trails.

They followed me into everyday life. Into new decisions, new challenges, and new beginnings.

And that’s what MadeForHorizon has become for me.

Not just hiking. Not just beautiful places or long distances.

But staying curious, trying new things, making mistakes, laughing about them (sometimes a little later), and being willing to start again.

Because you don’t have to be fearless to try something new. Sometimes, you just have to be curious enough to take that first step.

To everyone who’s been here for a while, and to those who’ve just found their way here. I’m glad you’re along for the journey.

Different horizons. Same mindset.

Made for Horizon.

#MadeForHorizon #OutdoorAdventures #BeyondTheTrail by @madeforhorizon

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3 days ago

Somewhere along the trail, strangers stop feeling like strangers.

You meet somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Share a few miles. A break. A fire.

And somehow, there’s no need to explain why you’re out here. Everyone already understands.

By the end of Section E, what stayed with me wasn’t just the mountains.

It was the people I got to share them with.

Great Divide Trail, Canada.

Great Divide Trail · Section E · Canadian Rockies · Thru-hiking · Trail friendships · Backpacking taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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9 days ago

Apparently, catching up counts as resting. 🥲

A little lesson I learned the hard way:
when you’re hiking with faster people and they’re taking a break ahead of you, don’t rush to catch up.

Take your own break first.

Otherwise, by the time you reach them, they’re ready to go again.

Learn from my mistakes. taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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8 days ago

Why can I do hard things out here,
but struggle with much smaller ones at home?

I had already climbed through the snow and made my way back down. My legs were tired. Then came the boulders.

And somehow, I just kept figuring it out. One rock at a time.

I’ve been thinking about that.

Out here, I rarely need to know how I’m going to solve the whole thing. I only need to know what comes next.

Meanwhile, I’ve been avoiding clearing out my basement for months.

Apparently, climbing through a field of giant boulders after an exhausting day? Fine.
A basement full of boxes? Overwhelming.

Maybe that’s the difference. Out here, I don’t stand at the bottom thinking about the whole mountain. I just deal with what’s in front of me.

Maybe some things become possible when we stop trying to solve all of them at once.

Or maybe rocks are just easier.

Great Divide Trail · Canadian Rockies · thru hiking · backpacking · GDT Canada taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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14 days ago

THIS IS NOT A STORY ABOUT
FOLLOWING THE PLAN.

If you know me, you know I like having a plan. And I really don’t like when the plan stops working.

These 26 weeks looked nothing like the plan. Canada, 306 km on trail, getting back into running, unexpected detours, my health condition and one week before #berlinmarathon2026 , finally getting the go.

There’s a line by Jon Kabat-Zinn I kept coming back to:
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

Maybe that’s what this became. Adjust the plan. Listen to your body. Keep the direction, but don’t forget to live along the way.

Maybe the point was never to follow the plan perfectly. Just to know which direction I still wanted to go. taken in Berlin, Deutschland by @madeforhorizon

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20 days ago

Trying to keep up with Canadians in their natural habitat. taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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25 days ago

Still figuring out the details.
Not the direction. by @madeforhorizon

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a month ago

I’ve been thinking about luck.

That morning, wildfire smoke hung over everything. The plan was still the same. It just felt a lot less certain.

Then a pickup stopped and suddenly one part of the day became easier.

A few hours later, we were back to picking our way through a washed-out trail, climbing higher and wondering how much further we still had to go.

I remember thinking we probably wouldn’t make camp that day.

And then we did.

A small lake. A waterfall. Our tents pitched right beside it.

Nothing about the place had changed because of the day we’d had. But maybe the way I experienced it had.

I wonder if moments like this feel different because of everything that came before them.

Would it have felt the same if the day had been easy?

Great Divide Trail • Section E • hiking Canada • life on trail taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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a month ago

Somewhere between Section D and E.

Great Divide Trail • Canada • trail life taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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a month ago

After days of thinking twice about every river crossing, this one came with a cable car.

No searching for the safest line.
No wondering how strong the current was.
No water trying to take my feet from under me.

Just a tiny metal box hanging above the Blaeberry River.

And somehow, for a moment, all the caution disappeared and the kid in me took over.

I couldn’t wait to get in.

Great Divide Trail • Section D • Blaeberry River • hiking Canada taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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2 months ago

The Great Divide Trail asked for more than I expected.

There were moments when the climbs felt like too much. A river crossing where the water almost took my feet from under me. Hours of finding our way through fallen trees. Bear signs that made every corner feel a little different. A traverse above the river where one wrong step suddenly felt very real.

And there was the decision to stop on day two, when continuing was what I wanted, but stopping was what I needed.

Looking back, I think that’s what stays with me.

I often only understand an experience after I’ve made it through the difficult parts. In the moment, I don’t know what will be waiting on the other side. Sometimes it’s a view I couldn’t have imagined. Sometimes it’s simply realizing I was capable of more than I knew.

And sometimes it’s a moose, standing in a meadow on a mountainside.

A moment I could never have planned.
One I probably wouldn’t have found anywhere else.

I think I’m still figuring out what Section D left with me.

Great Divide Trail • Section D • hiking Canada • trail reflections taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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2 months ago

The trail was there. Probably.

Great Divide Trail • thru-hiking • bushwhacking • trail reality taken in Great Divide Trail by @madeforhorizon

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2 months ago