blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike

Send us Fan Mail Blissful 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...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful 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 s...

Send us Fan Mail Even 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 l ighthouse at Cape Wrath a try, with three dangerous river crossings in between. It&ap...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful 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 bo...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful 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 t...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker hikes the Cape Wrath Trail and learns to accept everything that's thrown at her including rain and bog, but also selfish hikers.  In this episode: Blissful walks in easy trail paved with stone to lovely Coire Fionnaraich bothy and enjoys  the afternoon out of the rain with a misty view down the glen. Several hikers visit, but she has the night to herself until...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker hikes the Cape Wrath Trail in a kind "sampler, platter" managing to fit in a hike to stunning Maol Bhuide . In this episode: Blissful and her companion give the trail one more try in sections and drive from Fort William up to Strathcarron and begin a bog trot in brilliant sunshine to Maol Bhuide (pronounced mee-OWL VOO-tee) They share it with two young men...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker is forced by torrential rain to quit the Cape Wrath Trail but makes the most of it by bagging the highest mountain in the UK.  In this episode: Blissful and her companions are soaked through when they reach the cafe at Kinloch Hourn , finding it closed when it was supposed to be open and camping in puddly grass. The next section is high, exposed and has two dangerou...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker continues on the Cape Wrath Trail having the adventure of her life in Scotland's last wilderness, Knoydart .  In this episode: Rain thrashes the bothy an integral part now of this hike. The walk in Knoydart begins on seaweed, over a muddy head and straight into bog where Blissful experiences another episode of SVT (Supraventricular tachycardia) and takes a beta...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker continues on Scotland's difficult Cape Wrath Trail realizing mileage means nothing when the vague trail is filled with bog, tussock, flood and rock. In this episode: Rain sounds worse on the metal roof of Corryhully bothy , but how nice it is to be packing up inside where it's dry and one can stand.  It's relatively easy walking up to the bealach wher...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker begins the Cape Wrath Trail in the Western Highlands of Scotland and learns that it's less hiking and more "bog trotting." In this episode: The Cape Wrath Trail is  unmarked and requires a high degree of navigational skill as well as self-sufficiency , with unbridged river crossings that offer challenge when in spate (flood). They arrange a private fe...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker finishes the Teton Crest Trail mostly all alone overcoming any lingering doubt that she loves backpacking and will keep doing into old age.  In this episode: Blissful leaves her spectacular site on a granite slab in Alaska Basin and head up on Sheep's Steps to a wide plateau and towards Death Canyon Shelf , with a spectacular view, sadly obscured by smoke.  She...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker takes a side-trip off the Teton Crest Trail to a remote lake that requires scrambling, and learns making the time to explore and open herself to surprises is breaking the spell of thru-hiking anxiety. In this episode: The smoke moves in, but it's still gorgeous down then back up Cascade Canyon on superb trail packed with other hikers. At the junction, she feels...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker goes on her first high-altitude hike since her rescue and shoots for an SKT* on the Teton Crest Trail. *Slowest Known Time In this episode: It's an easy-ish trail only 45 miles or so of jagged peaks , crystalline lakes and spectacular passes all in wilderness.  She goes in the opposite direction of most, hitting huge climbs of 3,000 feet right from the start up...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker learns on the North Country Trail in Northern Wisconsin, that the very act of moving one foot in front of the other is automatically optimistic. In this episode: On a visit to old friends, Blissful takes a long walk in the Chequamegon National Forest on the longest national scenic trail in the United States, the NCT at 4,700 miles .  It's easy walking, but long...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker walks like a thru-hiker again for just a few days on the Superior Hiking Trail , moving fast, smooth and far and connecting again with herself. In this episode: It's a steep trail up to rocky "balds" with views , though all in mist this morning.  She learns that other hikers too find s ome people too loud and unfriendly , though the trail feels all he...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker dips a toe back into backpacking for a few days on the Superior Hiking Trail in Northern Minnesota and discovers her bliss can still be found on the trail. In this episode: Feeling a bit like Simone Biles on the beam , she simplifies things, going back to the basics on an easy trail , close to home and roads and for a manageable distance .  The SHT marches up Minnes...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker spends time off-trail looking back at one of her favorite thru-hikes, the Pacific Crest Trail and learning about the meaning of grace. In this episode: We're introduced to trail angels Kurt and Holly in Bellingham, Washington and learns about the value of paying it forward .  She rides up to Hart's Pass with thirty other hikers and finds their reasons for...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker is moved by Simone Biles' decision to exit the Olympics and feels like it gives her permission to forgive herself for her own exit. In this episode: Blissful is learning patience while she waits for a diagnosis on her heart and hopefully a path forward . Acceptance that she's fragile and that "the mental is not there" is part of healing. She also...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker wonders if the the trail itself ejected her this time. In this episode: Blissful is "trail angeled" in Montana and rests up in a kind of half-way house for sick people with nowhere to go.  She wants to keep walking, but only gets sicker.  Her supporters in a Zoom meeting convince her to take the Empire Builder train across the prairie to her home in Saint...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker is plucked off the Continental Divide Hike when her body goes into critical distress. In this episode: Blissful begins The Bob section of the CDT in Montana ( Bob Marshall Wilderness ) and is inundated with countless blowdowns to cross. She discovers things aren't really working out with her companions , so tries to makes the best of hiking alone in bear countr...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker begins the  Continental Divide Trail at Chief Mountain in Glacier National Park and gets a taste of everything – good and bad.  In this episode: Day one begins in a thunderstorm.. Mosquitos attack in squadrons. The trail is tough with four passes and a mountain to climb. Montana is experiencing a heat wave. Numerous river and snow crossings make for pruny and painfu...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker receives a blessing before driving across three states to start the Continental Divide Trail.  In this episode: The drive takes her in an Enchanted Highway and into the desolate but lovely Theodore Roosevelt National Park. She meets her two companions and stuffs gear in every available space. She accepts the trail is still a nascent idea, and to use the gospel lesso...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker makes maps and food for the Continental Divide Hike . In this episode: Blissful takes a GPS class with The   Mountaineers and learns about  the value of taking printed maps, navigational work flow, situational awareness and the ethic of self- reliance.  She also learns how to create a route using CalTopo , export it to Gaia   GPS on her phone and then follow it with...

Send us Fan Mail Blissful Hiker organizes her gear for the  Continental Divide Hike . In this episode: Blissful is taking a new Gossamer Gear ultralight "Gorilla" pack and "The One" tent on this thru-hike. Also an Ursack XL Major to keep grizzlies from nosing into her food which was a compromise to get the bigger bag at 15 liters but not critter impermeable. New aluminum LEKI C...