The Appalachian Trail: A Labyrinth Unspooled

The Appalachian Trail runs over two thousand miles through the deciduous woodlands, coniferous highlands, big sky meadows, rhododendron tunnels, and granite-capped ridgelines of one of the oldest mountain ranges on the planet.

One single path, one step at a time. The AT is much like a labyrinth unspooled. In a way, thru-hiking is a simple task: walk (or run, or amble) to the next white blaze, then the next, and the next. To what end? We balance a deep awareness of the present with an attentive acceptance of whatever challenge, tragedy, or delight is over the next hill.

Many months of living in the wilderness is enlivening, expanding, and challenging for the mind, body, and spirit. Trail life cultivates open mindedness, patience, perseverance, physical hardiness, and mental toughness. From the best of the highest of days to the worst of the lowest of days, it's all there – like an entire life condensed into a single walk in the woods. We ponder this, formulate our purposes, and question them in the smallest and grandest of ways. 

Three to four weeks in, the trail becomes a lifestyle – an immersion into landscapes without traffic, plastic, or bills. Watches and calendars don't matter – but sundown does. Instead of text messages, we leave doodles in trail logs. Instead of turning on the tap, we cup hands under streams. Instead of gas pedals and bus fares, we lace up our shoes and walk.

Day-to-day details become steeped in meaning – the little things become the big things. We learn how to throw a proper bear bag. We watch a cicada burrow into the ground for a 17­-year sleep. Listen to stories of ginseng hunters and timber wolves in West Virginia. Find a secret grove of old-growth pines. Most noteworthy of all, we discover heart-warming generosity of the human soul in the most unexpected of places.

Appalachian Trail southbound thru-hike: June-November, 2013