“mental game”
Anxiety Ascent: Why I’m off the trail
I wake up in my room, surrounded by four walls and my black cat walking over my down comforter. The air conditioning is cool and my bed is soft. This...
Kicking the Virginia Blues Back to the Deep South
Crossing into Virginia meant three states were behind us, with the highest-mileage state under our boots. I was ecstatic. This was a bittersweet day, though, as not all spring days...
North Carolina: A Not-So-Warm Welcome
I walked around the curving bend that snuck over the side of a mountain to see my AT partner, Lindsey (trail name: Dorothy), waiting for me at the North Carolina...
The AT Lead-up: Shakedowns, Saving Money, and Slaying Trolls
The lead-up to my Appalachian Trail departure is getting real, folks. There's less than three months to go until my date with destiny at Amicalola on March 10. There's...
To Approach or Not to Approach: starting NOBO at Amicalola Falls
''Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.'' -Yoda to Anakin Skywalker Amicalola Falls. The spiritual northbound start of the Appalachian Trail to some, the bane...
Don’t worry, I’m alive!
My first week on the trail, I met a hiker sketching the surrounding scene in a shelter. She was peering off into the gray rain, sitting quietly to herself, and...
Breaking Through the Fear
I felt empowered the moment I declared my time off from work. "I'm going to hike the Superior Hiking Trail by myself," I proudly proclaimed to all of my coworkers,...
Time and Moments
The way we mark the seconds and minutes, sixty of them, goes back to the Babylonians. I assume the twenty-four hour clock is also astoundingly ancient. The western calendar of...