blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Long-distance backpacker Alison “Blissful Hiker” Young shares intimate personal essays and field recordings from her journeys across iconic trails on six continents. With over 14,000 miles hiked, including the Pacific Crest Trail and New Zealand's Te Araroa, she reflects on self-discovery, empowerment, and resilience as a cancer thriver. Her storytelling is shaped by her background as an award-winning musician and public radio host, offering a deeply attuned and inspiring perspective on hiking and life.
Episodes
Art of the State (Parks): Winter at Lake Maria
Send us Fan Mail“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” —Charles DickensPart four in the series takes us on a late-winter hike through Lake Maria State Park, a meditation on seasonal transition and the quiet resilience of a landscape poised between winter’s hold and spring’s emergence.1. Late Februar
Art of the State (Parks): Fall at Blue Mounds
Send us Fan Mail"Fall is audacious, even if it marks an ending, a last celebration as everything prepares for the long winter, and the Sioux quartzite escarpment that makes up Blue Mounds, bear witness."Part three in the series brings us to far, Southwestern Minnesota for a day of rock climbing at Blue Mounds State Park. The day unfolds as a contemplative journey through ancient rock, sh
Art of the State (Parks): Summer at Grand Portage
Send us Fan Mail“Portage” means carrying a boat and its cargo between navigable waters. Thick forests once made overland travel in Minnesota and lands north slow and punishing, so lakes and rivers served as superhighways of the north. But moving from one lake to the next required hauling everything, canoes included...Part two in the series takes us on a short hike in Grand Portage State Park revea
Art of the State (Parks): Spring at Lake Itasca
Send us Fan Mail“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” —Margaret AtwoodPart one in the series highlights a night of near-solitude at Lake Itasca State Park. The moment is a reflection on spring’s renewal and the fragile, hard-won legacy of preservation that allows this landscape to remain alive and vibrant today.1. Camping alone at Floating Bog Bay amid the rich smell
Aliveness
Send us Fan Mail“The goal of life … is not happiness, peace, or fulfillment, but aliveness.” —Hubert Dreyfuss1. Sometimes curiosity about what’s around the next corner is enough to keep us exploring and moving forward.2. Life doesn’t end once you’ve done “enough.” It keeps unfolding.3. I hike because I am curious and because I can. 4. Here's a mantra I'll take with me on my next hike of
Mindset in Motion
Send us Fan Mail"You can think your way into a new way of acting, or act your way into a new way of thinking."Sometimes we can’t wait for the right mindset to show up. Sometimes we have to step into the behavior first, and trust that the mindset will follow.Credit is due James Loehr the author of "Mental Toughness Training for Athletes." He says we tend to reside in three energ
Embrace the Suck
Send us Fan MailThe trail—like life—may not always be what we want it to be, but it offers us the opportunity to choose how we respond to whatever it doles out.In the hiking world we have a saying, "Embrace the Suck!" It's a reminder that the trail doesn't care what we want it to be and is not there simply to meet our expectations.But we always have a choice to accept what is a
Open to Awe
Send us Fan MailHoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between is a great mindset when planning a major thru-hike – or any major life endeavor.Blissful is planning a thru-hike of the Great Divide Trail, a rugged and remote route that winds through the Canadian Rockies, tracing the continental divide between Alberta and British Columbia.In getting ready, the bes
Freak Show
Send us Fan MailI didn’t expect much when someone asked to closely examine my deformed fingers—but the moment ended up teaching me about what truly matters – and what doesn’t.I may be a Blissful Hiker, but my body is twisted and deformed from severe osteoarthritis.I’ve learned to ignore their appearance and carry on with life, focusing on what they can do rather than how they look.When someone ask
Let the Day Unfold
Send us Fan MailLet the Day Unfold! Let its gentle voice guide you toward unexpected surprises and open your heart to the lessons it holds.The lowly New Zealand sandfly teaches us about impermanence, to keep moving forward and to stay open to possibility.Letting the Day Unfold is a refreshing counterpoint to the classic carpe diem mindset. Rather than gripping the day tightly and trying to control
Life is Wide
Send us Fan MailBlissful's Great-grandma Emma used to say, "Life may be short, but it’s also wide."It’s a shift in perspective – from focusing on limitations to exploring possibilities, from dwelling on obstacles to finding creative detours.It would take walking the entire length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa for her to understand what Emma was talking about. The first lesson came
Never Quit on a Bad Day
Send us Fan MailWhen everything goes sideways and you’re having a bad day, repeat the mantra to not quit today but instead give yourself the self-love, the break, the reset to get back on track.We have a saying in the hiker community, "Never Quit on a Bad Day."It’s a reminder that it’s a good idea to hold off on making major decisions when things get tough and instead give yourself space
Be Where Your Feet Are
Send us Fan MailWalking through woodland ephemerals in early spring reminds us to embrace impermanence and stay present in the here and now. We have a saying in the hiker community, “Be Where Your Feet Are.” It’s all about staying present in the moment and not dwelling too much on the past or worrying about the future. To “be where your feet are” quite literally encourages us to stay grounded. On
The Trail Will Provide
Send us Fan MailHiking has a way of making us more resilient, not so much manifested as strength and persistence, but in developing trust and embracing the unknown.We have a saying in the hiker community, “The Trail Will Provide.” It signifies the aid and assistance hikers encounter on trail, encouraging trust and faith that things will work out.On a section hike of the Continental Divide Trail, B
TEDx excerpts: “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!”
Send us Fan MailOn October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk, “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!”Blissful shares the loss of her flute career due to a neurological disorder called dystonia. It was on trail that she began to heal – and her greatest teacher on learning to live with her loss and move forward into the unknown. Blissful's talk is about resilience in spite of lif
blissful TEDx speaker
Send us Fan MailWATCH TEDx On October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk about Resilience as part of TEDX AmoskeagMillyard in Manchester, New Hampshire. What is a TED talk??TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and was founded in 1984 to showcase the "most interesting people on earth and let them communicate their passion."The tagline is "ideas worth spreading.&quo
The Grace of a Good Teacher
Send us Fan MailTaking a class this weekend, Blissful learns about the key skills of a good teacher. This was especially important when she needed to face down an irrational fear of falling out of her kayak and being upside down in the water. Here are some of those skills:Positive Learning Environment. Encourage Risk Taking. Provide Feedback and GuidancePromote a Growth Mindset Just wanting to g
Life is Too Short to Waste on Speed
Send us Fan MailOn the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming, Blissful decides to go for an "SKT" (Slowest Known Time) and surprises abound. 1. John Muir (and Henry David Thoreau) hated the word "hike" and preferred to saunter, entering beautiful natural places with reverence.2. Physiologists tell us that walking at a turtle's pace releases endocannabinoids a kind of "persiste
Hiking While Old
Send us Fan MailOn the Pyrenean Haute Route, an oafish American hiker questioned Blissful's ability to manage a route of this difficulty. “Even YOU?” he asked, his lip curling in disdain. “I haven’t seen many old people hiking this.”It shook her confidence, for sure, but here she was, backpacking while old. We don’t tend to bounce back the way we did when we were younger.That’s why we have to
Don't Dream. Do.
Send us Fan MailHave you been wanting to do something a little wild and out-of-your-comfort-zone but were afraid to take the first step? When it comes to dreams, don't let them become a broken record of something you'll do "someday." In this episode, Blissful shares three reasons why we fail to act and keep our dreams to ourselves –rulesfear shameTake your dreams for a spin, ev
The Fear Factor
Send us Fan MailBlissful feels plenty of fear and anxiety before a thru-hike, but she manages her fears by asking, “If the worst happens, then what?” The answers to those questions helps us think more rationally rather than being paralyzed by anxiety, and thus live a more zesty and adventurous life.All of us feel fear at least some of the time that can hold us back from action.The trick is not to
Breast Cancer Trail: You're done!
Send us Fan MailBlissful is given the "all clear" by her surgeon and gets ready to step into the rest of her life. Surgery for breast cancer has completely changed Blissful's body, but has given her a new power of bravery and knowing herself better. One friend calls her a "sur-thriver" facing down the situation directly, and trying to do what St. Paul said, to "rejoi
cancer thriver
Send us Fan Mail Blissful takes her first hike on a trail after surgery for breast cancer and decides she prefers to be described as a "thriver" – or even "aliver" – rather than survivor. It's a hot, humid summer day at Lebanon Hills, a region carved by glaciers with kettles and eskers, plus the singing of numerous birds. Blissful's surgeon tells her it's time to
Inhabiting the Vulnerable Space
Send us Fan MailAs Blissful heals from a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer, she reflects on the person she wants to be going forward. Blissful is incredibly lucky in only having to undergo a radical surgery to rid her body of cancer. Step by step walking through her neighborhood, she slowly recovers back to her hiker self. The American writer Joyce Carol Oates speaks of the moment we reali
Good Luck, Bad Luck
Send us Fan MailWhen Blissful is diagnosed with breast cancer, she undergoes a bilateral mastectomy to save her life and secure her future.A friend tells Blissful she has it easy because she has a partner in her husband Richard. Indeed, she is incredibly grateful to be part of a team because it's helped her navigate some very tough times in her life. Blissful's view of life is that it ca
Breast Cancer Trail: Bye, Bye Boobs
Send us Fan MailBlissful begins her cancer journey looking back at her life as a woman. Blissful spends the days before a bilateral mastectomy gathering together a team of supportive women who have been through the procedure.She also walks, hikes, bikes, swims, kayaks all in an effort to calm herself – or running away from panic. In looking forward to being flat-chested and "ultra-light"
Appalachian Trail: going home
Send us Fan MailBlissful wraps up her hike of the Appalachian Trail in Maine to head home for cancer treatment. The two days between Monson and Caratunk are rain-free and magical with a winter wren, hermit thrush, northern parula plus warty frogs and a curious snake. It's two big mountains with views including Moxie Bald and Pleasant Pond with glorious views of humpy green forested peaks like
Appalachian Trail: Magic at Moxie Bald Pond
Send us Fan MailBlissful makes it out of the 100 Mile Wilderness and receives a call from her doctor calling her home to have a bilateral mastectomy.It's wet and muddy but mostly road out to Monson, Maine, the first town in ten days.She has to go home, but not immediately, and can head back on trail for at least a few more days. And it's perfect timing in sunny weather at last and a long
Appalachian Trail: gratitude for hiker and creature alike
Send us Fan MailThe trail is hard in rain, mud and cold, but Blissful gets the boost she needs from hiker and creature. It's mountainous now in the 100-mile Wilderness, revealing only misty views of distant lakes enveloped in thick forest. The "Sibs", two thru-hikers also from Minnesota, plus "Shoes," a barefoot hiker, meet her and offer encouragement.As does Fourth Mount
Appalachian Trail: White Cap Mountain
Send us Fan MailBlissful crosses a high, exposed peak in fog and rain then discovers she needs to go further than she thought. Hiking south on the Appalachian Trail, it's the first high mountains since Katahdin, but the weather is manageable. And there are small surprises like twisted and stunted "krumholz" trees, wildly fluorescent fungus and wildflowers heavily laden with damp.
Artist-in-Residence | Porcupine Mountains Wilderness
Send us Fan MailBlissful creates an audio narrative as an Artist-in-Residence at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. During her artistic residency, she immersed herself in the vividly sonorous landscape , collecting sound as she hiked. Birds, falls and the wind spoke to her about spring’s message – a message of renewal and rebirth.It's such a fleeting mom
Appalachian Trail: A River Runs Through It
Send us Fan MailBlissful makes her first dangerous ford over a swollen and dangerous river in flood from the non-stop rain. For a SOBO – or southbounder – on the Appalachian Trail, it's often wise to pay for delivery of a cache of food to break up the 10-day hike of the 100 Mile Wilderness. Right after the cache, the trail gets harder, steeply uphill into real mountains, plus river fords.
Appalachian Trail: you're only passing through
Send us Fan MailWhen seeing two Pileated Woodpecker parents up close, Blissful learns that she is only passing through and to savor the moment while it lasts. It's an easy enough day on the Appalachian Trail (AT) though rainy without any views.Blissful stops at a lovely campground on the banks of Lower Jo-Mary Lake surrounded by pink Lady Slippers, as delicate as crepe. These first days walki
Appalachian Trail: do the next right thing
Send us Fan MailIn 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 c
Appalachian Trail: one fine day
Send us Fan MailBlissful is ill-prepared for the constant damp, but discovering an inner fierceness to solve her problems and keep moving ahead. The summer of 2023 on the Appalachian Trail (AT) is the wettest in memory.But this one day in Northern Maine is thankfully dry with big wind off Rainbow Lake where Blissful is able to dry out her gear. It's all easy trail lined with wildflowers from
Appalachian Trail: nature could care less
Send us Fan MailBlissful leaves Baxter State Park to enter the 100-mile Wilderness, learning that "everything changes" including the weather.Blissful is waiting a pathology report from breast surgery, unsure if she will get the all-clear or have to manage a cancer diagnosis.Her surgeon encourages just to start hiking while she waits and here she is. Lured into the lovely idyllic summer w
Appalachian Trail: Mount Katahdin
Send us Fan MailBlissful decides to put her feet on the Appalachian Trail, beginning from the north on Mount Katahdin in Maine. Those in the know will laugh when the Appalachian Trail (AT) is described as a "footpath" as it's more a rock climbing challenge.And it's tough to get to the start, 100 miles from any airport, then a 4,000-foot climb in five miles up to the summit and
Set Your Sights Low
Send us Fan MailBlissful shares insights about setting flexible goals."Summit Fever" is one of the consequences of setting one single big goal and can cause us to fail every day, sometimes with tragic consequences. Rather than goals, setting systems can work in our favor because they are bite-sized goals more easily achieved.Systems allow us to succeed more often.And, allow us to change
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Part 2
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker is honored to have been named an "Artist in Residence" by the Friends of the Porkies and will live in a remote cabin this spring to create audio narrative essays in Upper Peninsula Michigan in the Porcupine Mountains. In this episode, she revisits her fall backpack trip when she fell in love with the "Porkies." Awakening to a spectacular sunrise
Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Part 1
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker is honored to have been named an "Artist in Residence" by the Friends of the Porkies and will live in a remote cabin this spring to create audio narrative essays in Upper Peninsula Michigan in the Porcupine Mountains. In this episode, she revisits her fall backpack trip when she fell in love with the "Porkies." In this episode: Blissful visits th
Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 3
Send us Fan MailThis week, Blissful Hiker completes the list of ten lessons from the trail that are helping her now.In this episode:7) :38 Everything changes “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”8) 1:50 You will never pass this way again "Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The tr
Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 2
Send us Fan MailThis week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now.In this episode::38 Let the day unfold “I think that’s what I love about my life. There’s no maniacal master plan. It’s just unfolding before me.”3:02 Trail Angels exist "That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing." 5:10
Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 1
Send us Fan Mail This week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now. In this episode:1:30 Take Risks “The most hopeful thing you are doing is taking these months to repair your body for the next hikes.” 3:42 Stay in the Present Moment Experience fully what each day brings, the surprises and tiny victories. 6:12 Practice Patience "Life is already too short
injury stops forward motion but not joy
Send us Fan MailOne year ago Blissful Hiker set her feet on the Arizona Trail and planned to return to walk the final 100 miles, but an injury interrupted the trip. In this episode:This time of year is called "Lent" and is all about waiting and preparing, as well as contemplating the brevity of our lives.An injury is like that, a close up look at vulnerability. Learning to manage the fru
yes, regrets!
Send us Fan MailRegret can actually act as the motivating fuel to push us towards our goals.Phrases like "no regrets!" are helpful in keeping us focussed on the future and not on mistakes from the past.And yet, looking with openness at what we regret from the past can help us build up the courage we need in our present to take risks. And then we are better able to choose what matters mo
why do I hike alone?
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker shares the reasons she hikes alone, to get grounded, to engage more deeply with the world around me and to do so at my own pace.Being alone in nature has been practiced by all civilizations to build self-reliance and connect with the spirit.As Emily Dickinson said, "The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience." But that does
Ask Me Anything! Volume 1
Send us Fan MailBlissful answers burning backpacking questions in the first round of "Ask Me Anything." In this episode:1:26 – How do you secure your bag when checking it at the airport?3:06 – Do you pack hiking poles on international trips or buy when you get there?6:20 – How do you choose when to use rubber tips on your trekking poles?8:36 – How do you take care of contact lenses on tr
Arizona Trail: The Finish Line
Send us Fan MailBlissful meets the Southern Terminus of the AZT just as a windstorm picks up on the Utah/Arizona border.In this episode:After a night in the "cowpie" field – flat and squishy – Blissful sleeps well under moon shadows. It's easy walking towards Vermillion Cliffs where she meets a couple of hikers who give her sage advice about making intentional decisions and looking
Arizona Trail: The Grand Canyon
Send us Fan MailBlissful has one of the most extraordinary experiences of her hiking life – walking into and out of the Grand Canyon.In this episode:With a snowstorm coming and temperatures dropping into the teens, Blissful decides to catch a ride and skip ahead.It's just more ponderosa pine forest and straight to the national park permit office.It's down hill, but steep and hard walking
Arizona Trail: glimpses of the Grand
Send us Fan MailIt's a long, undulating and dusty trail through more ponderosa pine where Blissful finally gets her first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. In this episode:Blissful wakes up 100% free of bug bites and happily puts all that awfulness behind her.It's up and down, but she sings as she walks recalling all the steps it took to keep moving ahead on trail.Horses, fellow backpackers a
Arizona Trail: back on trail
Send us Fan MailThe son of a friend of an acquaintance helps ground Blissful and on her way continuing north towards the Grand Canyon, putting the bed bug nightmare in the rearview mirror. In this episode:Sam drives Blissful past the "Arizona Snow Bowl" still deep in snow, to meet dry trail on a high plateau.All alone, it's easy hiking, but dry and windy like Mongolia as Humphrey&ap
Arizona Trail: bedbug infestation
Send us Fan MailBlissful is covered in itchy, oozing, painful bites and realizes her gear is infested by bedbugs picked up on her last zero at the motel. In this episode:It's a short walk under the interstate and along the "Urban Trail" to Flagstaff with views of snow-frosted Humphrey's Peak. In town, once people see the swollen bites on her face, she's shunned. After send
Arizona Trail: fairytale mountain, fairytale day
Send us Fan MailUnbeknownst to him, a camper becomes trail angel and helps Blissful find a perfect campsite after a long day of relentless forest and a glimpse of a fairytale mountain.In this episode:The ponderosa pine forest of the Mogollon Rim goes on though signs appear to describe life of lumberjacks from the past, burning 9,000 calories per day and working for food.Blissful is losing weight h
Arizona Trail: Mormon Lake
Send us Fan MailBlissful wakes to a soaking wet tent, gets lost and walks through deep snow and mud, but trail-angel beer and a lovely hiking partner make it a joy. In this episode:It's a new day, a better one, where Blissful can place her feet in someone's else's posthole through deep drifts. Walking with Joey, they come to a road where a trail angel offers a few beers to quench th
Arizona Trail: Game Player
Send us Fan MailBlissful becomes so frustrated trying to walk through the deep, sticky mud, she creates a game to keep moving forward – and is rewarded with a surprise..In this episode:Blissful walks on a frustrating trail of mud making high-heels of her shoes and clinging to her walking sticks. Panicky and frustrated, Blissful realizes anyone can do anything for one hour, so she sets her timer to
Arizona Trail: The Mogollon Rim
Send us Fan MailBlissful climbs up the Mogollon Rim and it’s filled with pines, snow, and melting snow.In this episode:Blissful is reminded that if you sleep right next to a river, your tent will be soaking wet.It's an easy rise through deeply shaded Ponderosa Pine next to the rushing East Verde River, the same one crossed in the deserty Mazatzals. After a rocky rise, the Mogollon Rim is reve
Arizona Trail: mud, mud, mud
Send us Fan MailAfter Blissful takes a forced break due to snowy weather, it's a sparkly day of gorgeous skies and sticky mud. In this episode:Blissful rides with a trail angel and three hikers to the Early Bird Cafe where someone pays for her breakfast. Her second hitch moves on before the door is closed, but gets her to the Highline Trail in Ponderosa Pine.The air is clear and fresh, sparkl
Arizona Trail: rocks, rocks, rocks
Send us Fan MailBlissful discovers more rocks than she thought possible on the Arizona Trail.In this episode:It's a beautiful morning with an orange sky, but straight up to weird skull-looking limestone, then pumice. The trail is hard and repetitive, not steep, just rocky and relentless.The trail is remote and feels lonely, harder than walking alone before. Making things more difficult are th
Arizona Trail: what is happiness?
Send us Fan MailBlissful works here way through the Mazatzals, overwhelmed by the enormous, staggering and disorienting size and remoteness. In this episode:Things begin on the aptly named Rocky Ridge opening to huge views that overwhelm, even causing a bit a panic. There's plenty of water and plenty of steep ups and downs to Bull Frog Ridge. Blissful makes the mistake of skipping water at Br
Arizona Trail: The Great Unconformity
Send us Fan MailBlissful hikes mostly alone in the Mazatzals with huge distances between water sources and is treated to a glorious sunset from my tent. In this episode:Blissful hikes in stunning and steep mountains of sandstone from the period known as the Great Unconformity, a gap of missing geologic time. Steep walking takes hikers from one exceptional water source to the next. The views are su
Arizona Trail: The Mazatzals
Send us Fan MailBlissful heads up to the beautiful Mazatzal Mountains filled with flowers, birds, streams and amazing views. In this episode:Margaret of the trail magic new sleeping mat drives Blissful to the trail head. More magic happens immediately when Joey walks by just as Blissful gets lost.It's a race against bad weather on the way to walk 70 miles to Pine, Arizona.The trail is easy fr
Arizona Trail: trail magic Arizona-style
Send us Fan MailAfter Blissful punctures her sleeping pad, she meets a trail angel who manifests her own magic and gets her replacementIn this episode:It's an extraordinary night on the edge of a ridge in the Four Peaks Wilderness with wind like a jet engine in the towering pine above her tent. After gorgeous streams, the trail meets a road, dull and long. A trail heads steeply down on rocks
Arizona Trail: Four Peaks Wilderness
Send us Fan MailBlissful climbs steeply up into the Four Peaks Wilderness, where she camps right on the edge of a cliff. In this episode:After sleeping on a wee bit of astroturf at Roosevelt Lake Marina next to the highway, Blissful hitches to the Vineyard Trail. The wide open trail climbs up past Saguaro and myriad wildflowers, including thousands of Mexican Poppies. Water sources are far apart
Arizona Trail: Rocky Road to Roosevelt Lake
Send us Fan MailIt's rough trail for Blissful as she works her way towards Roosevelt Lake mostly on rocky road, far harder going down than up. In this episode:From a camp above Walnut Spring in the Superstition Mountains, it's slippery and steep 1,000 feet straight down and 1,000 feet straight back up. The views are towards ancient seabeds, lifted up as mesas, the trail covered with lupi
Arizona Trail: Superstition Mountains
Send us Fan MailBlissful sees her first cactus bloom and has a magical day of steep climbs and a little bit of thunder and rain. In this episode:After a brilliant night camped by a stream, Blissful sees her first bloom on a cane cholla. When she reaches a road, a couple of ATVers offer a beer at 9 a.m. It's a nice group of thru-hikers including "Clothesline" and "John the Bapti
Arizona Trail: Picket Post
Send us Fan MailBlissful meets a trail angel (who never knew he was a trail angel) and he advances her past the low desert to big mountains.In this episode:It's a very hard day up and down on rocky trail in hot sun with no water over Oracle Ridge with Holly Hobbit.When they reach American Flag Ranch, she's exhausted and has nowhere to stay in town.At the post office picking up a resupply
Arizona Trail: Mount Lemmon
Send us Fan MailBlissful bumps into Holly "Hobbit" who steps right into the trail behind her for the steepest of all sky islands. In this episode:We're warned that we'll need to use our hands on the exposed rock up Mount Lemmon.It's hard but fun with a companion, exactly the same age and speed, who talks non-stop.The views to the desert are glorious, but nothing compared
Arizona Trail: Hutch's Pools
Send us Fan MailBlissful heads into stunning Sycamore Canyon, where the mountains seems to part and reveal the final sky island. In this episode:Blissful awakens as the moon sets, sleeping out in the open between two mountain ranges – the Rincon and Santa Catalina. It's a winding trail, up and down and after such a long and hard day before, she's tired and her heart skips a beat before b
Arizona Trail: Mica Mountain
Send us Fan MailBlissful climbs up and over the glorious sky island Mica Mountain, finding the descent far more difficult than the ascent. In this episode:It was a great decision to stop early in cool oak forest right next to a stream at Grass Shack, but it leaves a long up of 3,500 feet in four miles. Manning Camp is lovely under towering ponderosa pine, but cold still in snow. Plenty of water lu
Arizona Trail: Saguaro National Park
Send us Fan MailBlissful is fueled by trail angels to climb steeply up into Saguaro National Park. In this episode:In only a few miles in the early morning cool, Blissful arrives at Magic Camp for a full breakfast on their very last day helping AZT hikers. She joins Jeff and "King Arthur" into beautiful Saguaro National Park, where the cacti crack her up in odd shaped and human-like pose
Arizona Trail: angels of the desert
Send us Fan MailAs Blissful crosses the desert between mountain ranges, she's cared for by five trail angels. In this episode:After her amazing cowgirl camp looking out to the next mountain range, Blissful walks on winding bike trails meeting lots of happy bikers in long rows. It's hot and water is limited beginning with "The Lake" where she's serenaded by hundreds of bird
Arizona Trail: a whippoorwill in the gloaming
Send us Fan MailFueled by trail angel goodies, Blissful hikes to a spectacular cowgirl site looking towards her next climb in high mountains above the desert.In this episode:Blissful starts her day at her own private sky island looking at huge mountains.The day's hike is long, up and down, but easy and she moves while she can in good weather and on strong legs. A trail angel leaves several co
Arizona Trail: changing the rules
Send us Fan MailAn exhausted and sore Blissful Hiker takes a "nero" in Patagonia, then changes her rules on accepting rides on the trail. In this episode:Blissful awakes form cowgirl camping only seven hilly miles outside Patagonia, where she takes her first half-day off called a "nero" since it's not a full day like a "zero" and sleeps in a cozy bed. It's
Arizona Trail: Canelo Hills
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker hikes from cowgirl camp to cowgirl camp in the Canelo Hills on the Arizona Trail. In this episode:Blissful awakes to mourning doves and begins Passage Two of the AZT on a roller coaster of hills, finally running into other hikers.Happily she didn't camp near the creek that feeds Parker Lake because it's always colder in canyons near water. It's easy wa
Arizona Trail: camping like a (cow)girl
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker encounters icy snow on the Huachuca Mountains of the Arizona Trail, then sleeps out under the stars in the high desert. In this episode:Blissful climbs nearly 4,000 feet over Miller Peak and carefully crosses a sharp ridge with a steep fall line. At Bathtub Spring (literally a bathtub) she collects water and eats lunch in the sun. It's more up and down, before
Arizona Trail: touching the wall
Send us Fan MailBlissful begins the Arizona Trail which starts backwards, heading south for three very steep miles to the Mexican Border. In this episode:Blissful flies to Tucson, takes a shuttle, hitches a ride then starts the Arizona Trail immediately taking a wrong turn to a view.On the right trail, it's a slippery path of ball-bearing stones to a remnant of border wall like a shark fin a
Arizona Trail: Forty Days in the Desert
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker prepares to hike the Arizona Trail and realizes the solo walk aligns with the season of Lent. In this episode:Blissful prepares for the hike organizing gear, making food, sending resupply and studying maps. Fortunately, the trail to the southern terminus at the Mexican border has been reopened just in time after being closed to build the wall. Lent means spring, a t
Cape Wrath Trail: a determined bog trot to the Cape
Send us Fan MailEven though Blissful Hiker has to modify her thru-hike of the Cape Wrath Trail in Scotland due to wild weather, she makes it to the lonely lighthouse over trackless moorland.In this episode:Blissful and her hiking partner pack for extra nights and give the last section to Sandwood Bay and the lighthouse at Cape Wrath a try, with three dangerous river crossings in between.It's
Cape Wrath Trail: seals, mussels, otters and herons
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker lingers for an entire day at one of the most glorious bothies at Glencoul on the Cape Wrath Trail in Scotland. In this episode:The trail is easy along Loch Glenhue on the Duke of Wellington's estate and it's all in bright sunshine. Blissful passes a stalker in tweeds, horses and large mussel farms. The first bothy is empty, but they continue over a boggy he
Cape Wrath Trail: rainy autumn brilliance
Send us Fan MailBlissful Hiker takes two out-and-backs from Oykel Bridge on the Cape Wrath Trail and learns that hiking in rain can still be soulful in fall colors. In this episode:It's rainy and bleak out to Knockdamph Bothy where Blissful meets the trail she walked to Glenn Douchery the previous day.The bothy is spooky and run-down, plus someone's already there, so they head back to Du
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