The Mary Badass

A few nights ago I camped by a small, rundown cabin. Today I walked past a huge new house set back off a remote dirt road. The contrast in size was startling. The new house was easily bigger than twenty of the old cabins. For four months I am living with just what I can…

By Mary Anderson The steepest climbs and descents of the trail. Lots of butterflies and grasshoppers. Hiking in over 90 degree days. Drinking more in one day than I ever have, including multiple sports drinks, and still being thirsty. Hiking with a painful hip/groin. Feeling really alone. Meeting some wonderful people. Honored and touched to…

Updated: Aug 5, 2021 A hiker reminded me recently of the value of curiosity. She said when she felt like quitting she would work on becoming curious. She would wonder what is around the next bend or what the view will be like at the top of the next mountain. This curiosity kept her going.…

When I left Whitehall, Montana, it was really hot. Temps were back in the nineties. Shannon, the Whitehall trail angel, drove my pack to the end of the nine-mile road walk so I could slack pack. I was able to do another four miles or so, limping on the sore hip or groin muscle, before…

From where I am sitting right now life and time feel like such contrasting things, yet they are so closely intertwined. We live life for a certain amount of time and then we die. I’m thinking about this because I am sitting by myself in a very large open area surrounded by rising mountains. Down…

Today I was watching three tiny bugs spend a half hour going around and around on the top of one small flower. I wondered what it would be like to have your entire world be so small. Then I thought about some of the people I have met. They have been born, grown up, and…

Being laid back on a long hike is something I’ve seldom done, especially when alone. I might have been able to push over the next big climb, but I suspect I would not have enjoyed it. I’m learning to trust on a whole new level—not the external trail but myself. It feels like I am…

Updated: Aug 5, 2021 trail angels Dean, Jackie, Shannon and Paul By Mary Anderson On this section of hike when I am heading cross-country to avoid fires, everything is a lesson in deeper trust. I have little idea of my mileage. I don’t know exactly how much I’ve walked, nor how much more I have…

It happens every time I walk into a grocery store. I feel overwhelmed by all the possible selections, and my brain seems to shut down. I walk from aisle to aisle in a state of confusion. I know some of this is because it is such a stark contrast with the simplicity and lack of…

Trail maintenance crew. I am older than all of them put together There are trail politics around alternate routes. On some trails, such as the Long Trail in Vermont, there really aren’t alternate trails for people to consider. You hike from one end of the state to the other on a very well marked trail.…