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Trail Angels
By Mary Anderson Sometimes it’s my friends back home that keep me going. Other times it’s the people on the trail. On this day it was the Prairie Dwellers. My knee had been hurting for a few days and I was beginning to feel discouraged. I reached a high point and stopped for a late…
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Making My Own Way
By Mary Anderson Unlike many well-marked eastern trails, the Continental Divide Trail is like a make-your-own adventure. I doubt there are two groups of people who have ever done it exactly the same way. I don’t know anyone who has not been off trail at least once. Many of us are off trail more than…
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Lost
By Mary Anderson Almost every day while hiking the CDT I am off trail. Sometimes I am only a little off. Other times I feel really lost. Most times I cut cross country to make my way back to the “trail,” such as it is. I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I find…
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On Aging, Injuries, and Gratitude
By Mary Anderson Among the backpacking resources I am really blessed to have are those of time and a healthy, albeit aging, body. Due to numerous injuries, I have spent time in a wheelchair and have had to learn to walk all over again three times in my life. But unlike many people who use…
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How Dissociation Is Like the Wind
It’s amazing how something you can’t see can have such an impact. The wind howls almost nonstop in the Great Basin of Wyoming. The few minutes it is not there each day I feel my body relax and I relish the silence. Sometimes I feel it will make me crazy. I think about the unseen…
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Bridges
I was thinking about the importance of bridges. Certainly whole cities and civilizations have grown up around them. At least one person drowned on the Appalachian Trail trying to ford the bridgeless Kennebec River. My hiking partner was swept downriver when I hiked the PCT, and there are some notorious rivers to cross on the…
The Mary Badass
A Ruminating Blog About Personal Healing, Adventure and Day to Day Life
The Mary Badass 