Llama On Trail

Last day of this year’s section hike 😢 but gonna squeeze everything out of it by going 19 miles from Locust Cove Gap tent site to Fontana Dam Shelter. Started the day with Jacob’s Ladder, and just kept walking just kept walkin.

2026 trip: The adventures and misadventures of Llama and Cricket learning all about the PCT bear bag hang. 😂😂 No food or bears or humans or trees were harmed in the making of these bag hangs. 🙏🏼 So grateful that Cricket had practiced at home…she was the brains of this operation and I was happy to be a mere branch spotter and morning taker-downer 😂 🐻 🥘 Take me to the bear boxes and cables!! thanks to for the perfect bag to use!!

If you see my shifty eyes, we had just seen a bear’s fresh paw print in the creek mud where I was, so my head was on a swivel for what turned out to be a chipmunk 🐿️ 🤣. Solid 13 mile day. Tomorrow will be the marathon! 💪🏼⛰️🙏🏼❤️🌟🥾🍩

Day 3 - unsure what the day will bring or how we’ll feel, but HOT DONUTS are on the menu for the morning, from the Nantahala Outdoor Center!! my 800-fill puffy coat always keeps me so warm on chilly mountain mornings!

Day 2 continues… Wesser Bald Fire Tower. Have I mentioned this yet…the Nantahala Mountains are my new favorite. 🤩 5 more miles for the day….the best part…no ROCKS in my backpack! 🪨🤫

Appalachian Trail Trials: Ya know when you wake up at 3am and remember that you never brought Table 7 their ranch sauce? Well the same feeling happens when you’re huffing up a 5-mile mountain and remember that you forgot to take last night’s rocks out of your bear hang bag!! 🤦🏼‍♀️😬🪨🌋🎒

Getting certified as an ANFT forest therapy guide has awoken my senses and given me an exit ramp to get out of my head and into my body and heart. Forest therapy is NOT a hike with a destination, but practicing the principles has allowed me to tune in to nature better than before, even when I am hiking. 🙏🏼🌳⛰️

Here’s the first one! I’ll be posting videos and pics of our hike, and of Appalachian Trail culture and lore that I love!

Getting the girls away from lazing at home and watching the screens has been an otherwise futile effort today…but when they said they wanted to go to the beach, AND they wanted to WALK there, I dropped everything. ☀️🌊🌳

In NYC for work and made my way to Central Park. ❤️🌇🌳 Forest therapy guiding has given me the permission to SLOW DOWN and spend time with my curiosities. This morning’s time with this rock was more rejuvenating than any run, brisk walk, or email catch up time would have been! 🙏🏼🙏🏼