The Mary Badass

People have told me I bring good things into my life by the way I live or think. I’m not sure I believe this, in part because if that’s true then wouldn’t it also be my thoughts that are responsible for breaking my foot and for other seemingly negative things that happen to me? I…

Doing a long distance hike looks like a solo adventure. For a few people it is, but for most hikers these seemingly solo adventures are enriched and made possible by the many people who support hikers. This could be someone who mails resupply boxes to the hiker, someone who provides transportation to the start or…

After taking a zero at Uncle Joes motel and fishing camp, I felt a need to move on. I arrived there anticipating buying some prepared food. Instead I was surprised to be told there was leftover lasagna in the refrigerator that I could have. After gratefully downing the lasagna and taking a nap, Trip, who…

As I’ve aged I’ve gotten better at accepting what comes my way. Sometimes it is easy. Other times it is much more difficult. The Florida Trail has presented me with an opportunity to take this to a new level. I took the swamp in stride, learning not to rush it. When the water got shallower…

It became readily apparent on the Florida Trail that dry is relevant. When wading all day in water over my knees, even a stretch of ground with only an inch of water felt relatively dry. On the other hand, ground that had minimal standing water but was full of sole sucking mud definitely did not…

It has taken me a while to get used to a major optical illusion seen across the Florida swamps. Known as cypress domes, these featues are not domes at all. While viewed from almost any distance cypress domes look like small hills, they are in fact depressions! The reason for this is as follows: cypress…

The Florida trail is unique in that it hosts a kick off event each year allowing hikers to meet other aspiring Florida trail thru hikers. A large section of a campground is rented. Thirty or more volunteers show up. Multiple tents are erected with multiple grills, warming dishes and numerous tables loaded with food. Hikers…

Meeting Pam Casteel and her tribe of adopted special needs young adults when I was hiking the CDT was a highlight of that trail for me. We have maintained contact over the years. Pam knows I’ve struggled to recover from childhood abuse, especially after the way my ex-husband walked out on me. She intuitively and…

An important thing to determine on each hike is what shoes to wear. For the Florida trail I found this fairly challenging because of the many swamps and promise of wet feet for much of the trail. Also, since this is the first big hike, I’m doing after breaking both my feet on the Pacific…