blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance solo hiker Alison Young knows hard-core backpacking as few people do. With footprints on six continents and memories from trails like Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest, she is a member of a very small and prestigious group.
In a series of personal essays coupled with found sound and her own flute playing, this podcast explores her journey of self-discovery as a middle-aged woman, sharing the sometimes unglamorous but vital truth about empowerment, inspiring others to blaze their own trails in this journey we call life.
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Appalachian Trail: do the next right thing
In constant rain and cold, Blissful learns the power in facing her negative feelings and using them to spur her to action rather than resignation.
- The trail has yet to get hard on the Appalachian Trail (AT) but the rain is drenching.
- Blissful can't stop in the cold and swarms of mosquitos even to eat, and is full of frustration but fellow hiker Ingrid catches up and gives her courage, suggesting they sleep inside the next shelter to stay dry.
- It's not far or difficult to the shelter at Nahmakanta Stream and she grabs a corner spot.
- Wet and cold, she is reminded of the book Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales where he says, "“Stop denying and begin surviving. You don’t have to be elite or perfect, just get on with it and do the next right thing.”
- And this is exactly what she does, focusing her negative emotions to doing the next right thing - to stay as dry and warm as possible, and to keep moving ahead.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
