Category: Uncategorized
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Balance
May 18, 2021 By Mary Anderson So yesterday I wrote about cutting down on weight. Today it is about balance. I’m working on finding the balance between what I keep in my pack and what gets left behind—just like when I strive to find the balance in my writing between what gets left in and…
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Sleeping on the Trail
May 17, 2021 By Mary Anderson Settling in for the night in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is not the mice or bear that sometimes make me restless at night. It is all the stuff inside my sleeping bag. I can’t let my water filter freeze, so I throw it into the foot of my sleeping…
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The Rules of the Bear Game
May 16, 2021 By Mary Anderson First, figure out if it is a black bear or a grizzly. Make sure not to make eye contact. While it is charging you, look at its ears and face. Are the ears back, or up and forward? This will help your terrified brain decide if it is in…
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Chainsaw Mama
May 15 2021 By Mary Anderson Chainsaw Mama on tele skis I am heading down to visit my son before I set out on my hike. He will help me get my phone and electronics in shape for the trip. I will do some chainsaw work for him. People always ask me, “What does your…
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Bravery
May 14 2021 By Mary Anderson Self-doubt: Most writers face it. In fact, most humans face it. – I am not good enough. – What will people think of me? – Now they will see how stupid I am. – They are so much better than I am. The list could go on and on.…
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Surprises
May 13, 2021 By Mary Anderson Talk about surprises. What is that doing in the desert? I have changed plans for my upcoming hike at least five times. I’ve had to take into account the best season to cross the Wyoming desert, the high snowpack in Montana—which, as of this writing is still over ten…
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Finding My Way
May 12 2021 By Mary Anderson I am surrounded by maps these days. Maps of rivers and mountains, desert and forest. They are taking over my bed. Large ones weighing over half a pound. Smaller, one page ones delineating a route I might be able to take while I make my way on the CDT.…
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Gratitude
May 11, 2021 By Mary Anderson Despite the difficulties in my life which spurred me on to hike the CDT, I am well aware that I am surrounded by blessings. Having the time and means to hike is a luxury. And I am grateful to Korongo Books and all of you who have helped to…
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Food for Heart and Soul
May 21, 2021 By Mary Anderson Food waiting to go into mail drops. As I prepare much of the food I will eat for the next four months of my life I think about all sorts of things. Despite the difficult life place I am currently in, I am so blessed to have an abundance…
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How Dissociation Is Like Ice Cream
By Mary Anderson Many people refer to different aspects of themselves as parts: “Some part of me didn’t want to do that,” for example. Yet how different this is from my dissociative parts. In trying to explain the difference between the parts that we all seem to have inside of us and the parts that…
The Mary Badass 