Blissful is given the "all clear" by her surgeon and gets ready to step into the rest of her life.   Surgery for breast cancer has completely changed Blissful's body, but has given her a new power of bravery and knowing herself better. One friend calls her a "sur-thriver" facing down the situation directly, and trying to do what St. Paul said, to "rejoice always and not worry about anything."Time is running out but wouldn't it be cool to live fully, audaciously, without fear – and with joy –...

Blissful takes her first hike on a trail after surgery for breast cancer and decides she prefers to be described as a "thriver" – or even "aliver" – rather than survivor.  It's a hot, humid summer day at Lebanon Hills, a region carved by glaciers with kettles and eskers, plus the singing of numerous birds. Blissful's surgeon tells her it's time to put on a backpack and get back on trail, even though she's isn't completely healed. Illness humbles us and teaches us about our vulnerability and...

As Blissful heals from a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer, she reflects on the person she wants to be going forward.  Blissful is incredibly lucky in only having to undergo a radical surgery to rid her body of cancer. Step by step walking through her neighborhood, she slowly recovers back to her hiker self. The American writer Joyce Carol Oates speaks of the moment we realize that loss is part of our experience. “When that starts to happen to you, it is quite stunning.”Being out of...

When Blissful is diagnosed with breast cancer, she undergoes a bilateral mastectomy to save her life and secure her future. A friend tells Blissful she has it easy because she has a partner in her husband Richard. Indeed, she is incredibly grateful to be part of a team because it's helped her navigate some very tough times in her life. Blissful's view of life is that it can be full of abundance and grace, but sometimes bad things just happen at no fault of our own. Kind of like the children's...

Blissful begins her cancer journey looking back at her life as a woman.  Blissful spends the days before a bilateral mastectomy gathering together a team of supportive women who have been through the procedure.She also walks, hikes, bikes, swims, kayaks all in an effort to calm herself – or running away from panic. In looking forward to being flat-chested and "ultra-light", Blissful reminisces on becoming a woman from "sprouts" to a "mean girl" to a middle-aged woman saving her own...

Blissful wraps up her hike of the Appalachian Trail in Maine to head home for cancer treatment.  The two days between Monson and Caratunk are rain-free and magical with a winter wren, hermit thrush, northern parula plus warty frogs and a curious snake. It's two big mountains with views including Moxie Bald and Pleasant Pond with glorious views of humpy green forested peaks like emerging leviathan in an even more expansive sea of green.Camping is near a pond circled by summer homes and loud...

Blissful makes it out of the 100 Mile Wilderness and receives a call from her doctor calling her home to have a bilateral mastectomy. It's wet and muddy but mostly road out to Monson, Maine, the first town in ten days.She has to go home, but not immediately, and can head back on trail for at least a few more days. And it's perfect timing in sunny weather at last and a long reroute around flooded rivers. But it's a gorgeous hike through forest loud with birds and frogs. And it takes her to...

The trail is hard in rain, mud and cold, but Blissful gets the boost she needs from hiker and creature.   It's mountainous now in the 100-mile Wilderness, revealing only misty views of distant lakes enveloped in thick forest. The "Sibs", two thru-hikers also from Minnesota, plus "Shoes," a barefoot hiker, meet her and offer encouragement.As does Fourth Mountain Bog, a stunning ecosystem crossed by boardwalk where a White Throated Sparrow greets her as well as giant. maroon-veined pitcher...

Blissful crosses a high, exposed peak in fog and rain then discovers she needs to go further than she thought.    Hiking south on the Appalachian Trail, it's the first high mountains since Katahdin, but the weather is manageable.  And there are small surprises like twisted and stunted "krumholz" trees, wildly fluorescent fungus and wildflowers heavily laden with damp. Even high up, the birds are loud including a new bird t Magnolia Warbler.When Blissful discovers she needs to go further than...

Blissful creates an audio narrative as an Artist-in-Residence at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Upper Peninsula, Michigan.   During her artistic residency, she immersed herself in the vividly sonorous landscape , collecting sound as she hiked. Birds, falls and the wind spoke to her about spring’s message – a message of renewal and rebirth.It's  such a fleeting moment, one so transitory, we could almost miss if we’re not listening carefully. MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel...

Blissful makes her first dangerous  ford over a swollen and dangerous river in flood from the non-stop rain.    For a SOBO  – or southbounder – on the Appalachian Trail, it's often wise to pay for delivery of a cache of food to break up the 10-day hike of the 100 Mile Wilderness. Right after the cache, the trail gets harder, steeply uphill into real mountains, plus river fords. With an unusual amount of rain, the rivers are in spate and dangerous.Blissful is alone and carefully crosses the...

When seeing two Pileated Woodpecker parents up close, Blissful learns that she is only passing through and to savor the moment while it lasts.  It's an easy enough day on the Appalachian Trail (AT) though rainy without any views.Blissful stops at a lovely campground on the banks of Lower Jo-Mary Lake surrounded by pink Lady Slippers, as delicate as crepe. These first days walking south through Maine have been hard and Blissful feels like an amateur muddling through. While she licks her...

In constant rain and cold, Blissful learns the power in facing her negative feelings and using them to spur her to action rather than resignation.  The trail has yet to get hard on the Appalachian Trail (AT) but the rain is drenching.Blissful can't stop in the cold and swarms of mosquitos even to eat, and is full of frustration but fellow hiker Ingrid catches up and gives her courage, suggesting they sleep inside the next shelter to stay dry. It's not far or difficult to the shelter at...

Blissful is ill-prepared for the constant damp, but discovering an inner fierceness to solve her problems and keep moving ahead.  The summer of 2023 on the Appalachian Trail (AT) is the wettest in memory.But this one day in Northern Maine is thankfully dry with big wind off Rainbow Lake where Blissful is able to dry out her gear. It's all easy trail lined with wildflowers from one shelter at Hurd Brook to the next at Rainbow Stream with a delightful site right above falls through a gorge. New...

Blissful leaves Baxter State Park to enter the 100-mile Wilderness, learning that "everything changes" including the weather. Blissful is waiting a pathology report from breast surgery, unsure if she will get the all-clear or have to manage a cancer diagnosis.Her surgeon encourages just to start hiking while she waits and here she is. Lured into the lovely idyllic summer weather at the start of hiking the  Appalachian Trail (AT) Blissful gives away her plastic waterproof backpack liner to...

Blissful decides to put her feet on the Appalachian Trail, beginning from the north on Mount Katahdin in Maine.  Those in the know will laugh when the Appalachian Trail (AT) is described as a "footpath" as it's more a rock climbing challenge.And it's tough to get to the start, 100 miles from any airport, then a 4,000-foot climb in five miles up to the summit and Mile 0.The weather calls for unseasonably hot weather, over 90 degrees, so it's a very early start.  Planning two nights of camping...

Blissful shares insights about setting flexible goals. "Summit Fever" is one of the consequences of setting one single big goal and can cause us to fail every day, sometimes with tragic consequences. Rather than goals, setting systems can work in our favor because they are bite-sized goals more easily achieved.Systems allow us to succeed more often.And, allow us to change our minds and still succeed. MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala  as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki...

Blissful Hiker is honored to have been named an "Artist in Residence" by the Friends of the Porkies and will live in a remote cabin this spring to create audio narrative essays in Upper Peninsula Michigan in the Porcupine Mountains.   In this episode, she revisits her fall backpack trip when she fell in love with the "Porkies."   Awakening to a spectacular sunrise on Lake of the Clouds,  Blissful walks into a the magical and primeval hemlock forest. She meets the Big Carp River and enchanted...

Blissful Hiker is honored to have been named an "Artist in Residence" by the Friends of the Porkies and will live in a remote cabin this spring to create audio narrative essays in Upper Peninsula Michigan in the Porcupine Mountains.   In this episode, she revisits her fall backpack trip when she fell in love with the "Porkies."  In this episode:  Blissful visits this magical place, a wilderness state park of 35,000 acres of primary stand hemlock amidst a massive volcanic uplift above Lake...

This week, Blissful Hiker completes the list of ten lessons from the trail that are helping her now. In this episode: 7) :38 Everything changes  “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” 8) 1:50 You will never pass this way again  "Sooner or later, we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip." 9) 3:26 Let go and forgive  "Forgiveness is the economy of the heart… forgiveness...

This week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now. In this episode: :38 Let the day unfold  “I think that’s what I love about my life. There’s no maniacal master plan. It’s just unfolding before me.” 3:02 Trail Angels exist "That’s what I consider true generosity: You give your all, and yet you always feel as if it costs you nothing." 5:10 The point of a thru hike is not to triumph  "The goal of life … is not happiness, peace, or fulfillment, but...

 This week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now. In this episode: 1:30 Take Risks “The most hopeful thing you are doing is taking these months to repair your body for the next hikes.” 3:42 Stay in the Present Moment Experience fully what each day brings, the surprises and tiny victories.  6:12 Practice Patience "Life is already too short to waste on speed."  MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala  and Milongs sin palabras by Astor Pizzolla...

One year ago Blissful Hiker set her feet on the Arizona Trail and planned to return to walk the final 100 miles, but an injury interrupted the trip.   In this episode: This time of year is called "Lent" and is all about waiting and preparing, as well as contemplating the brevity of our lives.An injury is like that, a close up look at vulnerability. Learning to manage the frustration teaches us how to embrace our lives. A long walk – and the weak place of injury – helps bring the hiker closer...

Regret can actually act as the motivating fuel to push us towards our goals. Phrases like "no regrets!" are helpful in keeping us focussed on the future and not on mistakes from the past.And yet, looking with openness at what we regret from the past can help us build up the courage  we need in our present to take risks. And then we are better able to choose what matters most projecting the idea of regret into the future.  See a picture from Blissful's past. Listen to the podcast episode all...