blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker is gifted with good weather while walking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on the Te Araroa , but it takes a fellow hiker to slow her down and help her enjoy the spectacular surroundings. In this episode: Blissful leaves Te Porere Redoubt for the Tongariro crossing with four hiker friends in the middle of the night and is heartened when she sees stars, a good omen...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker struggles with being a beginner at thru-hiking as she walks New Zealand's Te Araroa , but realizes that every step she takes brings her one step closer to being an expert.  In this episode:  Blissful leaves Ongarue in the North Island of New Zealand and walks toward Taumarunui, where she'll plan her canoe trip down the Whanganui River. She meets a Maor...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker learns that hiking all alone on the Te Araroa and managing her nervousness about what's to come is worth it, since she enjoys her own company the most.  In this episode:  Blissful walks the Timber Trail   in the spectacular Pureora Forest in the North Island of New Zealand, native bush saved by "tree sitters" and easy walking on old logging tramwa...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker learns that she actually misses the muddy, barely-there trail of New Zealand's "advanced tramping" and longs for the allure of the unknown.  In this episode:  Blissful walks from Marianne and Allan's farm toward the Pureora Forest , all on road but happy to walk every step of the Te Araroa . She walks in on-again-off-again rain through farmla...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker "sidles" the steep sides of a riverbank in the Mangaokewa Reserve and learns how "un-lonely being lonely can be."  In this episode:  Blissful leaves Waitomo for Te Kuiti through slippery farmland, getting lost in fields of sheep poo and confusing orange triangle-shaped trail signs. The reserve begins as a Hobbit Forest in a sun shower , but s...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker descends Mount Pirongia on the Te Araroa in a driving rain on an infamously muddy, root-filled trail and works her way to Waitomo , shown generous Kiwi hospitality all along the way. In this episode:  Blissful joins eight Te Araroa hikers in a storm for the descent of  Mount Pirongia, the highest point in the Waikato region of New Zealand, happy to be sharing th...

Send us Fan Mail Two mountains bookend Blissful Hiker 's walk of the Te Araroa in the Waikato Region of New Zealand's North Island – the Hakarimata Range and Mount Pirongia , and she discovers that a hiker is both spectator and participant.  In this episode:  Blissful walks over slippery roots and deep pools of mud to reach the Hakarimata Trig before running down hundreds of stairs. It&a...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker is back on New Zealand's Te Araroa walking through the Waikato Region in the center of the North Island. She learns to face her fear – as well as ambivalence and irritation – and muscle through the bad parts so she can be open to surprise.  In this episode:  Blissful skips a trail detour and starts her hike in muddy wetlands and electric-fenced pastureland...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker is back on New Zealand's Te Araroa thru-hike, "slackpacking" through Auckland then celebrating Thanksgiving with her Kiwi hosts, discovering she has a lot to be grateful for.  In this episode:  "Slackpacking" means hiking on a thru-hike with only what's needed for the day, leaving overnight gear at a friend's where the hiker sl...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker learns that not knowing what comes next in our lives can be difficult to handle and nearly intolerable. The power is in choosing between accepting limited circumstances with grace. In this episode:  Blissful learns her arthritis has progressed the point where she'll need to have both hips replaced , but that doesn't stop her from hiking one more short...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker is reminded that backpacking is her favorite activity because she is at her most mindful and feels closest to the Goddess, a spirit guiding her to see the beauty in all things, even rain and leeches!  In this episode: Blissful wakes up on her final morning on the island at Lane Cove , the wind up and wonders if her plane will be delayed. She crosses a narrow bri...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker learns to recognize and savor joy, not so much that joy is fleeting, but to remember when times are tough, that joy will return.  In this episode:  Blissful forgets her water filter at the dock, but in finding it, she sees a stunning sunrise she might have missed.  She wades slowly into Moskey Basin and is attacked by a swarm of leaches and learns the best way t...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker meets trail angels who share food, beer and good advice, learning to be flexible at times and not hold too tightly to plans, because sometimes that can lead to a dangerous situation. In this episode:  The trail is a Monty Python "Knights who say 'Ni.'"  Blissful crosses huge beaver dams , one with a sinking plank she just has to test, dumping...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker continues her magical thru-hike of the very special island national park, Isle Royale . She discovers that the animal she would most want to be in another life is the busy beaver, a creature with the grit to swim fifteen miles to make this eden its home. In this episode: Feldtmann Tower is shrouded in mist and there are no views whatsoever, but other surprises a...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker visits a very special island national park, Isle Royale , a boreal forest and Canadian Shield "balds" wonderland in the far Northwest corner of Lake Superior that moose and wolves call home.  In this episode: A weather delay sets Blissful up for a magical hike off her itinerary to Hugginin Bay . Her hike takes her past an embarrassment of thimbleberrie...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker times the tides to kayak down the Puhoi River , rock hop then cross an estuary before walking down the North Shore to Auckland . Her young friend, Lydie, teaches her about the infinity loop and the circle inside it that represents our grounded selves. In this episode: Blissful is invited to stay as long as she likes at the Puhoi Pub and Hotel , then joins her yo...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker wakes up on Pakiri Beach and heads right back into muddy bush where she meets two young people, then two more, who give her some very good advice.  In this episode:  Blissful heads into the bush for a few days and is now an expert at slogging through epic mud. She instructs two slower hikers to just walk through it, and is invited to go first .  They camp togeth...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker learns that her subconscious needed this journey of thousands of steps on the Te Araroa as well as important lessons about taking measured leaps of faith and letting go of the need to control to allow the trail itself to provide . In this episode:  Blissful is awakened in Ruakaka by a bird with a microphone, then heads back on the beach.  She meets interesting c...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker walks the Taiharuru estuary with a Te Araroa veteran, then heads to the summit of Bream Head where meeting people at just the right moment open pathways she hadn't noticed. In this episode:  Ros grabs Olive Oyl and leads the way across the estuary barefoot.  Blissful walks across Ocean Beach, then up Bream Head and meets people who show her the way to the v...

Send us Fan Mail The Blissful Hiker is tripped by a branch, rolling her ankle and falling down hard. But miraculously, she can still walk and is offered many chances to start over on this hike, move on and forgive. In this episode: The day starts crossing the longest footbridge in the Southern Hemisphere over the Whananaki Estuary.  A local moves her along, as does a big black cow. At Tane Moana ,...

Send us Fan Mail People show up right when the Blissful Hiker needs them in Northland, New Zealand on the Te Araroa trail, making her believe trail angels do indeed exist. In this episode: The Blissful Hiker walks into the song-filled Russell Forest on the Papakauti Stream-as-trail. She swims in a refreshing pool with a friend and feels baptized in its refreshing coolness. She doesn't skip th...

Send us Fan Mail A risky kayak portion of the Te Araroa up the Waikare Inlet in the Bay of Islands leaves the Blissful Hiker wondering if, in the words of James Agee, kindness watches for her. In this episode:  The Blissful Hiker takes her first "zero" day – walking no miles – in Kaeo and tries green-lipped mussels and Whangaroa oysters for the first time.  She gets care for her infected...

Send us Fan Mail A selfie reveals a face battered by a week of long distance backpacking and the Blissful Hiker considers her mortality and how to keep her hike – and her life – from being a bore. In this episode: The Blissful Hiker considers her mortality after taking a selfie of her backpack-beaten face then seeing a row of wild boar carcasses. She considers how carefully chosen gear protects he...

Send us Fan Mail It's not until the end of the day when the Blissful Hiker enters a magical forest preserve of towering Cathedral-sized Kauri does she realize here is precisely where she needs to be in this moment.   In this episode:  The Blissful Hiker awakens to a cacophonous symphony of birdsong , puts on her muddy socks and shoes and walks right back into soul-sucking mud.  A walk across...

Send us Fan Mail Slogging through epic mud in the New Zealand bush, the Blissful Hiker learns about plunging straight through difficult passages, never making assumptions and always looking for the beauty around her.  In this episode: On only day 5, the Blissful Hiker cheats and allows her friend of a friend of a friend Peter to drive her past the road walk section.  She enters real New Zealand bu...