Forgiveness Walks

Questions from Wesley
May 17, 2026

1. I see so many different types of packs, is there a right or wrong style? And should I put all my stuff in individual dry bags within my pack?

I’ve been pretty happy with putting a trash compactor bag inside my pack as a general liner. I also put the one set of clothes I want to keep dry at all times (leggings, wool sweater, one pair of socks, maybe one synthetic shirt) in their own ziploc bag. Consider which things need to absolutely stay dry (phone charger, phone, notebook, what else?) and put them in bags.

As for pack choice, I was pretty happy going to REI and spending a couple of hours with a staff person who said she was a “pack fitter”. I chose the pack they had that felt best.  I have used several packs myself. I even bought one, used it for a two-day walk, then returned it.  Although that one wasn’t an REI pack, they do have their generous return policy. After walking the AT with my first pack, an REI Valhalla (with the top “brain” removed) for about half of the trail, my new hiking partner gave me a smaller, lighter pack which I used for the rest of the trail – then took back my larger pack for the winter months at the end. While planning for the PCT, I thought I wanted an ultralight pack and bought a Granite Gear pack. I loaded it up with my familiar gear and carried it around. I concluded that it was only comfortable with weights up to 20 lbs, which I knew I would exceed because we had to carry water on that trail.  I took it back and have now stayed with the lightest weight packs with full suspension – nice padded hipbelts. My REI session yielded me a Gregorgy Jade 60, which I wore out! Now, they don’t make it, so I chose to buy BOTH the Gregory Maverick 55 and the Gregory Jade 65. read more

January 25, 2026

I’m glad that this day is not the completion day of my Appalachian Trail thru hike! I’m living in Ohio now, and it’s a full 24 hours into a record-breaking snow event! I’m living solo now, a development of the journey that unfolded since that completion day in 2008.  Although I’ve been thinking about my journey since that day all day, I haven’t sat down to write it, and haven’t really wanted to. Remembering feels adequate. However, I’ll write a list of events. read more

November 29, 2025

While spending time mostly in my room, keeping my face down during recovery from retina surgery, I have been dreaming of an ideal community! Feeling bold and brave and playful, I’m sharing it in its rough and rudimentary form!  Feel free to play along and share your comments!

This is an imagining of the Forgiveness walks Center for Walking, Aging Consciously, And Leaving No Trace.

The ForgivenessWalks Center is a dwelling for a group of people who thrive by walking in Nature to live and work there, supporting each other in conscious aging, dying, and body composting,  We also support people in creating fulfilling walks, particularly of the Appalachian Trail. It could be also be the Benton MacKaye Trail – one of those Appalachian Mountain trails. read more

August 6, 2025

I have a S.T.O.R.Y. (A Sustained Tale of Repressed Yearning)

Hmm. I suppose the anniversary of Hiroshima Day is appropriate for posing this question. Can “using the tools” of Radical Forgiveness shift the apparent stalemate in a situation where someone is blaming me for something I said?

Two years ago, I muttered a judgemental comment within earshot of another person, triggering her desire to “not hang out with people who say mean things about me”.

Yesterday, she reminded me of that event, saying that the way to resolve this is for me to make amends and change my behavior. What’s my part in this situation? Can I raise the vibration for both of us by using the tools myself?? read more

August 2, 2025

It appears to me that my original reason for relocating to Ohio after my 9-year stint at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park ended in May, 2023 has also now ended. My life seems to have distinct chapters that have clear beginnings and endings!  Now, I have the privilege this time to pretty much choose whatever I want to do! I can say more about all that later!

For this post, I want to elaborate on how I’m using my own Five  Essentials for Crafting a Radiantly Fulfilling Walk for planning my own walk of the Buckeye Trail, a 1400+ mile loop around Ohio!  Here’s a brief look! read more

July 23, 2025

In response to a Facebook question about how the average hiker walks the Appalachian Trail, here is my response:

Most important is knowing why you are walking! The trail is a blank canvas on which you express your unique fulfillment! It supports YOUR average day, YOUR pack weight, YOUR number of times going home.

How about getting to know the trail and yourselves?
I have loved my relationship with the AT starting at age 50 and find very little in common with most hikers I’ve met, especially with their focus on mileage, speed, food, and hatred of mountains. I’m happy to talk this through with you. I’ve worked as a ridgerunner for 7 seasons and have talked with thousands of hikers in Virginia. read more

August 30,2024

“Strangers are friends I haven’t met yet.”

This is one of my mottos that gets affirmed every day. Today, it was in admiring the beauty of an adult sitting with a child, honoring her importance next to the park pond where I was walking.

It took a photo of them, walked around the pond, and shared it with him. He graciously accepted it and we talked, blending our adult conversation seamlessly with his granddaughter’s.

I left them with my motto, “Maybe we can be park friends! Strangers are friends I haven’t met yet!” read more

August 26,2024

Do I stay in bed scrolling through the stories “the algorithm” chose for me? Maybe going for a walk in my neighborhood park would be better. It is. It’s always better!

On my first step off the street into the woods, I breathe and sigh, “Yes! I’m here! Oh yes, this is my place to be!” Colors, sounds, myriad relationships in balance flood my senses.

Reaching the mowed grass paths, I shed my shoes, greeting with a silent gesture of thanks the woman who enticed me to walk barefoot by her own practice. I rejoice in gratitude for this space. Somehow it has been mowed without me having to hear the machines! read more