The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend time feeling sorry for themselves. – Barbara Corcoran It was a bit of a whirlwind waking up and getting ready to go. I wish we had a week together to talk, make food, take some hikes and even see a few plays, but there was only this sliver of time to get to know Maria – like a soul sister. We still talk […]

Knowing what must be done does away with fear. – Rosa Parks I had a purple sky lull me to sleep, the wind died and my tent stayed up with help from my phantom stake providers, but someone ran a generator all night and a guy was yelling bright and early. I pack up and ship out, eating on the trail. It’s ten miles to water, up and down on a rollercoaster of trail in […]

If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it. – Erma Bombeck I wake up all on my own, just the gurgling, splashy creek next to me and the sky lightening. It got chilly at night, so I zipped up the footbox, put on my hood and tucked in. I approach the day tired and unsure about seeing through this enormous undertaking. I don’t know what will happen or what I will learn […]

Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. – Golda Meir My spot is absolutely flat and I am, oh, so comfortable. Suddenly, a giant in snappy flip flops passes three feet from my head and shines his headlamp at my face. “Knock it off!” I yell and he slowly flip-flops away. I’m now comfy and wide awake, considering everything that could go wrong in my […]

You are the one that possesses the keys to your being. You carry the passport to your own happiness. – Diane von Furstenberg It was a beautiful night of a full moon lighting up my little clearing in the forest. My backpack slumps and jolts me awake as I shine my light and use my full-on ‘scary’ voice. It doesn’t help that mountain lions have been ‘active’ in the park. I figure they followed me […]

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. – Gloria Steinem The sun lights up the triangular rock fortress of Thielsen while I still lay in my quilt, cozy and lazy. Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ fills my mind on this perfect morning. No one joined me on my hill except one hiker just making dinner before moving on. I love my solitude, eventually making breakfast […]

If I stop to kick every barking dog I am not going to get where I’m going. – Jackie Joyner-Kersee My beautiful, private lake produced a layer of mist and the alicoop is cold and damp, but ali, herself, is cozy and cuddly inside the puffy quilt. I almost don’t want to get up as the light show begins at sunrise, but a chattery squirrel leaping from tree to tree coaxes me out. I am […]

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope. – Helen Keller I awaken in my cozy bed to the soft tump-tump of cat paws on the hardwood floor above me. I feel so good having seen my lovely friends and taken a day off to experience a bit of the ‘Hippie Capital of Oregon’ and reorient my perspective on this grand undertaking of walking another long trail. Tom makes […]