I’ve walked the Appalachian Trail twice, plus another 2,000 miles working as an Appalachian Trail Conservancy ridgerunner for seven seasons.. How did I start all this? By locating the nearest trailhead to my home and setting foot on the trail. That one hour greeting let me hear my call to the trail “If I just …
Category Archives: Appalachian Trail
Getting Started on the Appalachian Trail
“I think I want to do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. How should I prepare for that?” Here’s my answer: Go out for a day, then a night, then three or four nights. Go out for short walks in all four seasons to test your gear. One landmark in preparation is to go out …
Call for an Inner Journey
November 16, 2019 I read this in a women’s hiking blog. “Can I just rant for a moment?I’ve posted before about having to come off SOBO due to my knee this year. Also mentioned I had surgery in Sept for it. They did a couple things and I was excited that I’d get another go …
Thruhiker Celebrity?
“Thruhikers are celebrities!” I read that in a women’s hiking group and chuckled. I don’t feel special! I walked the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia within a year’s time, so I am a thruhiker. As a thruhiker, how I know about myself is that I fulfilled my dream of being able to say, “I …
Job Advice Please
January 21, 2018 Summer is coming! Every year for the past seven years, the ATC offers me a ridgerunning job! I love that job! It’s work I enjoy doing and feel good at, and the venue is the absolute best for me. It’s in the dream job category of getting paid to do something I …
Imperfection Accepted
December 15, 2017 What if I have a project for watching the sunrise every day, or sending a weekly blogpost, or painting every day for thirty days, or walking the Appalachian Trail? What if I miss a day of sun watching or painting or skip a week of posting or take a day off walking? …
2000 Miler Anniversary
November 15, 2017 What would I feel when I crossed that road, meeting the spot where I had left the trail two years before? When I got there I could celebrate having walked all 2,175 miles of the Appalachian Trail. The spot lacked the drama of Mt. Katahdin or Springer Mountain, the geographic endpoints of …
Late Bloomers
August 27, 2017 This week’s walk took me and John on a traverse of our entire ridgerunning seciton. We walked from Partnership Shelter to Damascus, VA on the Appalachian Trail. This is the section that we have taken turns walking since April 24th. The flowers have made a noticeable transition from spring to late summer …
Majesty Transforming
August 24, 2017 What caught my eye on my walk this week through the Grayson Highlands, VA in the Mount Rogers Reccreation Area were decomposing tree trunks. I first noticed one on my ascent up Balsam Mountain, the actual mountain one climbs to reach Mt Rogers, the high point of Virginia. I took a photo …
High Country Week
Notice and Wonder August 3, 2017 My Ridgerunning walk this week focused on what’s called the High Country of the Mt Rogers Recreation Area in Virginia. My first night out on Thursday, I camped at a spot I’ve had my eye on while I walked through there other weeks. It’s on Stone Mountain, just …