Beth Malchus Stafa

Hi from Grandma Gatewood’s hiking grounds, the Hopewell Culture’s Serpent Mound, and Lake Erie. We are Beth and Tom, trail names Dessert Queen (one who looks at the dessert menu first before the entrée) and Mr. Rook (one who plays chess), lifelong hikers who are setting off on our next adventure, a flip flop thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. Our journey begins in April 2023 as we willfully step onto the Goodloe E. Byron Memorial Pedestrian Walkway to cross the Potomac River with our backpacks filled with gear needed for this six month journey. We are embracing the spirit of the month and the characteristics of the Jungian archetype The Fool by demonstrating confidence, persistence, and courage. We believe that it is not too late to aim high, to practice joy and awe, to be curious and try new things and to face the unknown together.

Posts

Interlude (July 8, 2023 – early September, 2023)

Interlude (July 8, 2023 – early September, 2023)

If you obsess over whether you are making the right decision, you are basically assuming that the universe will reward you for one thing and punish

Mar 15, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 14: (July 1 – July 7, 2023) Blame it on the rain.

Week 14: (July 1 – July 7, 2023) Blame it on the rain.

“The rain to the wind said,/You push and I'll pelt./They so smote the garden bed/That the flowers actually knelt,/And lay lodged--though not

Feb 26, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 13: (June 24 – June 30) Searching for Hallelujah While Slip Sliding Away

Week 13: (June 24 – June 30) Searching for Hallelujah While Slip Sliding Away

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it's having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is

Feb 12, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 12: (June 17 – June 23) Trail Magic: Kindness Abound.

Week 12: (June 17 – June 23) Trail Magic: Kindness Abound.

“Every seed of Love planted within a heart may lie dormant for a long time but when the right conditions surround it, it cannot fail to germinate and

Feb 1, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 11 (June 10 – June 16) Spellbound by the Hiking Trails’ Beauty

Week 11 (June 10 – June 16) Spellbound by the Hiking Trails’ Beauty

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, 'This is what it is to be happy.’” —Sylvia Plath, The

Jan 23, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 10 (June 4 to June 9) Learning to See with Heart

Week 10 (June 4 to June 9) Learning to See with Heart

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” 

Jan 15, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 9 (May 27 to June 3) Random Events or Coincidences

Week 9 (May 27 to June 3) Random Events or Coincidences

“When we're interested in something, everything around us appears to refer to it (the mystics call these phenomena 'signs', the skeptics

Jan 7, 2024 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 8 (May 20 to May 26) Rain, Sickness and Young People: a return to Paradise

Week 8 (May 20 to May 26) Rain, Sickness and Young People: a return to Paradise

“Three things remain with us from paradise: stars, flowers and .”  Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy. May 20th we started at the “Hellish” Fingerboard

Dec 31, 2023 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 7 (May 13 to May 19) Trekking Through Dante’s Divine Comedy and Ending up in H***ish Campsite.

Week 7 (May 13 to May 19) Trekking Through Dante’s Divine Comedy and Ending up in H***ish Campsite.

“What was this forest, salvage, rough and stern, which in the very thought renews the fear. So better is it, death is little more; but of the good

Dec 22, 2023 : Beth Malchus Stafa
Week 6 (May 6 to May 12) Different Perspectives

Week 6 (May 6 to May 12) Different Perspectives

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” C.S. Lewis, The

Dec 10, 2023 : Beth Malchus Stafa