AUGUST 29. Two days after our town stop in Stratton, Maine, John and I  both felt energetic and happy. I said,  “What about today’s crisis?! We don’t seem to have a crisis!” John agreed. He said, “Well, if we do, we know what to do, “Pull our toes, eat some food, and play Satori!”

I began this journey, a walk on the Appalachian Trail from Mt. Katahdin, Maine, to Mt. Greylock, Massachussets, with the idea of pilgrimage – walking for inner change. That purpose is clearly unfolding as I walk with John, the man I met on my 2007 “thruhike” from Maine to Georgia. read more

August 20. I smiled when I saw John on the other side of the West Branch of the Piscataquis River on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. He easily waded through the 18″ deep water and crossed the thirty foot width of the calm river to meet me on the south side. I paused my search for aquatic animals clinging to the undersides of rocks in the shallow river bank to greet him.
“Hi, Regina! What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m a stream monitor back at home in Atlanta, and I’m curious what lives in the water here!”
“That sounds fun! What are you finding?”
My smile spread to my heart at his question. This hiker whom I had met a couple of days before in Monson, Maine, was interested in sharing the fine points of Nature exploration. We stayed a little longer turning over rocks, oohing and aahhing at stonefly and mayfly larvae, put our hiking shoes back on, then walked south together on the trail.
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AUGUST 18 and 19. Although it’s wonderful out on the trail, even when it’s difficult, I need to go into a town every few days to get more food, take a shower, revise gear, and take care of internet tasks! It’s easy to consider that the trail and the town are two different worlds, separate and incompatible. The more I adopt a Hiking Lifestyle, however, the more the two worlds blend, becoming dependent on each other and equally important in sustaining me wholly. Here’s a taste of how a town stop works. read more

AUGUST 16. Climbing the mountains on the Appalachian Trail in Maine invites me to stay present to each moment. If I pay attention, I notice that each rock is unique, in color, shape, pattern, texture. Each step is a “pedestrian decision” as described in Don’t Die in the Mountains. I reflect on how walking this path is a dance of agility and focus. I don’t believe that treadmill walking would be good offtrail training for Appalachian Trail walking. Perhaps court sports like basketball or tennis could work. My favorite, of course would be trail walking! read more

From Regina’s journal while walking the Appalachian Trail

August 13 STICK IN THE MUD
A section of the trail was very muddy yesterday.  Here’s what happened. For an hour or so, I successfully rock-hop, keeping my feet dry. Then, Slip! My left toes sink into three inches of water. Now, I’m partially resigned to having wet feet and surrendering to the mud. Slip! My  right toes  dunk into the brown soup. My shoes are both coated with mud. I can give in. It’s easier, after all, to simply walk through the mud, rather than hop gingerly from stick to stick and rock to rock. read more

From my journal August 8, 2015.

It was so much fun entering Baxter State Park as a familiar visitor! John worked here last year and I visited for most of three months, so we know the staff here! Views of “the mountain” welcome us like a wise old friend. The peaks and  the silhouette spark memories in my mind that ripple even in my body, calling me to another arduous climb to the rocky summit. What a thrill to feel at “home” in the shadow of Mt. Katahdin!

In 2014, I watched the mountain change over three months and made this slide show. read more

Packed and headed out to the AT later today. It may be a week before I can post again on the southern side of “the Hundred mile wilderness”- 100 miles without resupply. (Some hikers have Paul Renaud at AT Lodge drive in on logging roads, but we’ll go through it with our 20lbs of food to share.) I love reading your comments and questions and can answer when I get to Monson!

We started with THIS! Above

and ended with THIS: two packs.