In which I run and think about George Floyd, not breathing.
Category: Uncategorized
Shawnee State Forest, October 2019
In late October I went backpacking at Shawnee State Forest in southern Ohio. It had only been a few weeks since completing the Appalachian Trail, but in those odd days following my summit of Katahdin, every day of not hiking felt like a confused century. The opportunity to walk again—through a forest heavy with the …
New Jersey and New York
I loved the New Jersey section of the AT, but mostly I loved New Jersey because it was not Pennsylvania. That being said, the Garden State had some lovely features, including marshlands and the Pochuck Boardwalk—a mile of easy, flat walking through cattails and swamplands, which was a very pleasant change from the unforgiving and …
On Good Omens, Pennsylvania, and Fragments that Fuel
A little reflection on a story, a trail, and why we need things that keep us going.
April Highlights
I'm continuing with my reflections from early on in the trail. Here are a few selected highlights from North Carolina and Tennessee. April 23, just before Hot Springs, NC, eveningWalking down the hill to camp, I couldn’t stop breathing in. That air, that green smell of oxygen, made me instinctually inhale. It smelled like summer, …
The First Few Days
As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm going to be sharing some more in-depth updates from the Appalachian Trail, with revisions from my original writing. Here are just a few thoughts from my first week on trail. 25 March, Day 2: Hawk Mountain ShelterI’m lying here in a three-sided wooden structure, between two strangers …
Quick Update from the Appalachian Trail
Hi, hello there, whoever you are, dear reader! It is I, Sarahmarie, writing from a town near the Appalachian Trail. I have been out here for about three months now, and I don't have adequate words for what this hike has been like. I have made friends with some of the coolest and most determined …
Checking In: The Journey Towards the Appalachian Trail
Greetings, reader! Have you ever met a less dedicated blogger than yours truly? Seriously, I had so many ideas for writing: discussions about my hike on the Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo last summer, traveling in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, not to mention some thoughts on gear and reflections post-JMT …
Continue reading Checking In: The Journey Towards the Appalachian Trail
Hi there!
Hello, Internet! It's me, Sarahmarie! Remember me? The one who wrote obsessively about preparing for and hiking the John Muir Trail last summer? I'm still here, and I'm writing again! Because time is weird and bizarre and very hard to keep up with, I find myself flabbergasted that it has been 9 months since I …
Beautifully Brutal: Some Reflections on the John Muir Trail
Here I am again: sitting at my desk, writing at my computer. It feels weird to be out of the wild, off of the JMT, enjoying the fruits of civilization, facing the turn of the seasons again. I’ll spare you the “time goes so fast, I can’t believe the trail is already over, etc etc” …
Continue reading Beautifully Brutal: Some Reflections on the John Muir Trail
Sarahmarie Specht-Bird 