This is the story about my first encounter with the idea of thru-hiking. On a random weekend social hike through the dunes with some coworkers, I made a fateful decision that forever changed how I viewed backpacking. And changed the trajectory of my life to set me up to be a long distance hiker, ultralight backpacker, and blogger. This post includes a short story, a photo journal, and advice for hiking the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Complex. How it All Began One of the coworkers on this fateful hike was Blake, aka Chunky Chuckwalla before he earned the name, who at the time was more of an acquaintance than a good friend.…