Tag: Appalachian Trail

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Walking into Your Dream!

Are you yearning to walk the Appalachian Trail?

You wonder how.
You wonder if you can do it.
You know there’s a lot to prepare, but don’t know where to start.
Everyone you know says that’s a crazy thing to do!
You want someone who’s done it to help you navigate the journey.

Hi. I’m Regina Reiter and I know exactly what you’re thinking! I was in your shoes before completing my thru hike in January, 2008. I’m a long distance hiker, Nature interpreter, Radical Forgiveness Coach, and entrepreneur with a passion for helping women over 50 walk the Appalachian Trail as a pilgrimage. read more

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How to Start Your Appalachian Trail Walk

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 keep walking, I can get all the way to Maine!”

Next step: a half day walk with my husband, exchanging the car key in the middle as we walked in opposite directions. Over the next four years, we built up to a full month on the trail, two trips per year, from over night to three nights, a week, two weeks. There are landmark steps, I think: read more

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How Much Food for Vegan Hiking?

In response to the question “I’m vegan. What food do I take hiking?”

I sprout mung beans and lentils on trail. Hummus, olive oil, sweet potatoes, corn mush, maple syrup. Did I mention olive oil – most calorie dense food? I was soooo afraid of being hungry and not getting enough calories when I started my thru! My first week southbound from Katahdin, I carried 13 lbs of vegan food for my 10 days to Monson. I had several pounds left!!! What I’ve discovered in my 15 yrs and 10,000+miles of walking is that food can be lightweight, easy, tasty and nutritious. When I count the calories of my day, feeling energetic and satisfied, its more like 2,000 calories. I haven’t consumed 5,000 calories ever! Maybe I don’t hike as hard? Dont know, but the advice that I’ll need 5,000 calories a day (hmm. used to be 3,000) doesnt seem to be real for me. I enjoy fresh foods and have my favorite dehydrated staples to build meals around. I eat pretty much the same foods on trail as I do off trail. Happy to explore this with you! read more

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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 long enough to have a resupply or maildrop, say 8-10 days. With the experience of finishing a 3-5 day section, taking a townstop, then going back out, you’ll have the basic idea of a long distance walk, which is really a long string of 4-day walks without going home in between! That’s the best part of long distance journeys. Resupply, rest, cleaning up and going back out!! read more

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Preparing for a Long Walk

July 20, 2019

What a blessing to have a five-day walk in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! The lush, green, and lavishly diverse landscape truly exemplifies the fad of Forest Bathing and contrasts starkly with my winter desert habitat!

Although my body cringed a bit with muscle soreness since I haven’t taken a long walk since last August, my soul basked in the sensory luxury while my body remembered how to meet the mountains!

Turks Cap Lilies on green background
Lilies line the ridge along the AT in GSMNP

During the walk I received a message from a woman yearning to get out on another five-day walk herself, inquiring about guided walks for next fall. That sounds like a long way away, until I consider all that life might already have scheduled plus the preparation required to create a radiantly fulfilling walk!   read more

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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 walked the AT”. I feel true to myself, that I listened to my heart and did what it took to walk one day at a time – and keep walking! So, if doing that makes me a celebrity, great. More than fame, however, what I want to do is entice others to create their own walks wherever they are, on the Appalachian Trail or in the neighborhood park! I want to help you discern what your equivalent of the Appalachian Trail is and step into fulfilling that dream! read more

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My Umbrella: A Room with a View

I Love My Gear!

My Umbrella is a Rainy Day Room With a View

Yesterday, I walked on Cold Mountain, VA, in a cloud. Rain drizzled down and visibility was

"My Room with a View"

about 20 feet. Yet, I was enjoying the walk, the view, and a visit to this magical place of beauty.  As I walked, I realized that my umbrella played a big part in my ability to embrace this moment in comfort  and joy.

When I first started backpacking, I thought that an umbrella would be about the dumbest thing I could bring.  Wouldn’t it get caught in branches along the trail?, I thought.  An umbrella is fragile and awkward! Umbrellas are for city streets, not trails!  It’s just not right! An umbrella is bulky and hard to pack. My list of reasons to leave the umbrella at home was long. read more