Explore every episode of the podcast blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike
Dive into the complete episode list for blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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 – even in an uncertain world?
Next week, Blissful heads back to trail in Arizona to finish a portion she had to skip when walking two years ago.
MUSIC: Introduccion y Allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.
On day 59 of hiking the Te Araroa, the Blissful Hiker gets in touch with her inner brave spirit and gets more comfortable hiking her own hike.
In this episode:
Blissful leaves the Tasman Sea on concrete-hard black sand of Koitiata Beach and meets a Kiwi section-hiker who tells her the uneven and difficult trail standard is part of the challenge.
The Blissful Hiker completes the "thru-canoe" section of the Te Araroa on the Whanganui River, and meets "Guardian" Trail Angels before she returns to the Tasman Sea.
In this episode:
Blissful and her paddle partner Andrew leave Hipango Park for one final day on the winding chocolate-colored Whanganui River toward the Holiday Park and a short walk to town.
On her own, Blissful heads to meet a trail angel named George who offers a room for the night. His partner Rob shares a whakatau, a Maori greeting.
After a big Kiwi-style English braeakfast, George starts the trail with Blissful. It's road-walk all the way to Koitiata and there's no such thing as "share the road" in New Zealand.
She picks up a lolly cake at Turakina Antiques and is invited by a trail angel for a snack and conversation before meeting the Tasman Sea again after 50 days of walking.
The sunset is glorious and Blissful has it all to herself, but knows she is not entirely alone because people are looking out for her.
MUSIC: Impresiones de la Puna by Alberto Ginastera as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
The Blissful Hiker continues the section of the Te Araroa on the Whanganui River, learning that aiming your canoe – and life – straight into the V of rapids can give you a renewed sense of power and agency.
In this episode:
Blissful heads into the rapids on the Whanganui and her partner Andrew teaches her to ignore her intuition and head straight into the bubbling caldron – and never stop paddling.
They lean in, knees against the gunwales, thwacking and bumping through as the water drenches them in a kind of baptism.
Andrew empties 26 gallons of water, then another 15 in the next set, but they never tip.
They stay all alone at the the quirky Flying Fox Retreat with some loud birds.
There's no more rapids and it's a long, soggy day to Hipango Park where they camp high up on a bluff.
Blissful realizes she may never see Andrew again after this shared journey, but thinks if this lovely partner can show up out of nowhere, so can others.
MUSIC: Impresiones de la Puna by Alberto Ginastera as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
The Blissful Hiker begins the section of the Te Araroa on the Whanganui River, a body of water precious and deeply spiritual to the Maori.
In this episode:
Blissful begins paddling the Whanganui with her partner Andrew as captain, a young American exactly thirty years younger, who takes charge of steering.
After a quick lesson, they're off mostly on placid water reflecting the clouds and cliffs dotted with waterfalls.
At the John Coull Hut, she camps outside and watches rare pekapeka, short-tailed bats, the only endemic mammals to New Zealand.
They take a break from paddling to visit the Bridge to Nowhere, built with high hopes o bring prosperity to the region, though no roads were ever built to it.
The seven-year-old daughter, Maddy, welcomes them to Tieke Kainga, as the kaikaranga or caller in a powhiri to the Maori community, then gives her a pakohe , a healping stone, which Blissful carries on every hike thereafter.
MUSIC: Impresiones de la Puna by Alberto Ginastera as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
***You can win a pair of Balega Socks! Like and share The Pee Rag on Facebook and you'll be automatically entered to win.***
The Blissful Hiker learns how to be brave and keep the faith from a novice hiker friend who jumped on the Te Araroa before she was totally ready.
In this episode:
Blissful leaves the Tongariro National Park on the Tupapakurua Falls Track, a "balcony walk" with views out to Mount Taranaki rising above the horizon like Shangri-La on a brilliantly clear day.
She camps with her friends at the Katieke War Monument to those who died in World War I and they enjoy a spectacular sunset.
She learns that even though the day started off badly, a thru-hike allows you to literally walk away to something better.
It's a road walk to Whakahoro, but lovely next to the Retaruke River.
At the camp spot, Eline arrives – a Dutch woman backpacking for the very first time – and teaches Blissful to trust herself.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
***You can win a pair of Balega Socks! Like and share The Pee Rag on Facebook and you'll be automatically entered to win.***
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 for decent weather ahead.
Tussocky hillsides dotted with mountain daisies take her up to steaming calderas spewing sulfuric smells, ancient craters crumbling into malevolent jaws and lakes of a wondrous chalky green.
As if like magic, her friend Tom meets her and slows her down to savor the entire day before they camp together below the Devils Staircase in the Mangatepopo Valley.
On her birthday, the day opens clear with a glorious view of Ruapehu all the way to Whakipapa where the trail goes from good to awful just as the promised storms follow her all the way to National Park.
MUSIC: Impresiones de la Puna by Carlos Gaustavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 Maori who shares sweet coffee and his philosophy, a mixture of matriarchal wisdom and Christianity and it tells her to "ask the mother for help."
In town, the trail provides when she meets up with four hikers she likes who invite her to join them for the canoe trip after four days walking.
It's an easy hike on country roads to the Whakapapa River where she spies two rare whio – or blue ducks – in the rapids, a good omen.
The hike is along a mountain bike trail called the 42 Traverse, a sanctuary for kiwi and rare carnivorous plants.
The trail cuts off for the Waione/Cokers Track, a muddy, deeply rutted trail where she meets a trapper who takes her on the ride of her life through bush on a 4X4.
MUSIC: The music in this episode is Argentine composer Angel Lasala’s Poema del Pastor Coyaand Carlos Guastavino's Allegro as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 tramways.
Crossing spectacular swing bridges over deep gorges and walking through deep canyons cut deeply in the hills take her to Piropiro Flats, where a trail angel gives her two cheap beers for brunch.
At Waione Stream, she spies bikers wading in the rapids below, joining them for one of the best swims of her hike, cold but refreshing.
Camping is at No. 10 Camp, though Chloe can't stand Blissful's blissful singing, so she sets her tent at a distance.
Along the way, Blissful passes the 1,000 kilometer mark, 1/3 of the hike completed.
The final day takes Blissful across the Mangakotukutuku Bridge and meets the engineering marvel of the Ongarue Spiral, two trestles above a tunnel.
Finally, she's finishes at a campsite shared with dozens of hikers who she can't connect with so decides being alone, is just fine.
MUSIC: The music in this episode is Argentine composer Angel Lasala’s Poema del Pastor Coyaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 meets other thru-hikers at the Ngaherenga campsite, all having skipped the last sections and call Blissful a "purist."
Blissful enters the Pureora Forest on the Timber Trail, a wide shared mountain biking trail, but longs for the side side trails back into the bush to the Bog Inn and Pureora's summit, where she spies volcanic Mount Ruapehu.
She crosses two enormous suspension bridges and camps by a Harrisons Creek, where a hunter shows up with a deer, sharing the tenderest morsels.
MUSIC: The music in this episode is Argentine composer Angel Lasala’s Poema del Pastor Coyaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 Pleasant River – less pleasant, but doable especially with affixed ropes, yet there's no information on whether the ropes are safe.
A Winter Wren congratulates her on a successful cross, and encourages a climb to Logan Brook right below White Cap Mountain, where a shelter awaits.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 the difficulty of deep mud, a trail-as-river and slippery roots.
Trail angels invite her to use their shower and laundry, and – after asking nicely – invite four solo women to stay inside out of the elements.
The next day is wet and muddy across sheep pastures and bush, but when she gets lost, it leads to an easy crossing of the rain-swollen Moakurarua Stream.
The Hamilton Tomo Caving Club invite her to use their group hut facilities before she takes in the famous Waitomo Caves to see glowworms like constellations on the limestone walls.
While she understands that generosity can be its own reward, that doesn't explain the tremendous kindness she's benefited from and she leaves a nice koha (or donation) for the trail angels she's met.
MUSIC Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino, Suite Argentina by Horacio Salgán and Soliloquy by Bernard Rogers as played by Alison Young, flute. available on iTunes
Blissful walks over slippery roots and deep pools of mud to reach the Hakarimata Trig before running down hundreds of stairs.
It's an easy walk to Hamilton where Blissful meets Irene, her partner from the first days of the Te Araroa, then another easy walk to Whatawhata, where she uses up all the good weather and faces a big challenge in rain.
It's a long walk over farmland and up on the Kapamahunga Range, then on to the giant extinct volcano, Mount Pirongia.
In a storm, friends from around the world await at the Pahautea Hut on the summit, and she learns that she "actuates" her hike - and life - in every decision she makes.
MUSIC Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
KULA CLOTH "pee rag"! Intentionally designed for all the places you ‘go,’ the Kula Cloth is one of the most important pieces of gear a women should have attached to her pack. read review order one for yourself
BACKCOUNTRY FOODIE A partner in healthy, ultralight and inexpensive thru-hiker meal planning, Backcountry Foodie is a game changer!
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.
She arranges for a whole group to camp at Cathy's Pies and learns that whatever answers she's looking for on the trail, is likely already inside her.
Her hiking friends share many of her same feelings about the trail and remind her this is all building "character."
Once she moves past fear and gets her rhythm, she camps alone high up in the Hakarimata Range with an incredible sunset and a morepork (owl) for company.
MUSIC: Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
KULA CLOTH "pee rag"! Intentionally designed for all the places you ‘go,’ the Kula Cloth is one of the most important pieces of gear a women should have attached to her pack. read review order one for yourself
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 sleeps.
Blissful hikes in rain and sunshine through parks, up blown out volcanoes, into museums and along busy roads.
She learns about another hiker dying on the trail and considers how easy it is to make a dumb decision, wondering if risking everything to come on this hike was a good one.
And at a Thanksgiving meal she realizes she feels gratitude for her decision, dumb or not.
MUSIC: Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 thru-hike at peak autumn colors.
The Kekekabic is part of the North Country Trail and is the most remote and rugged trails in Minnesota running through boreal forest and the Boundary Waters.
She takes two big falls, not hurting herself, but realizing her body is breaking down and gets "kekked" (lost) accidentally walking down two portages instead of on the main trail.
Rain comes and goes the entire way, but crossing the incredible architecture of beaver dams, and witnessing a stunning moonrise make up for it.
MUSIC: Introduccion y allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 bridge with a bee hive below.
A moose crashes through the forest when she arrives and a black fox leads her up to the ridge and fabulous views of Canada.
The trail is easy going to Rock Harbor and eventually departs, seeing the humpy green backbone of the island rising right out of the big lake and so grateful for all she saw.
MUSIC: Surveyors - Eagle Flies Away for horn and mixed media by Eric McIntyre(used by permission)
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 right into the murky water.
At Todd Harbor, fisherman share dinner and laughs, looking out for her safety.
She meets trail angels at Todd Harbor.
Technical scuba divers arrive and give her good advice as the loons wail and beavers cannonball.
MUSIC: Surveyors - Eagle Flies Away for horn and mixed media by Eric McIntyre(used by permission)
CONTEST! Enter to win three pairs of Balega Socks, the best blister-resist, non-slouching, foot-massaging socks for the long haul!
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 await including thousands of spider webs glistening in tiny droplets of dew.
Seven Sandhill Cranes lift as one as Blissful arrives
She spends the her first night in one of the historic shelters built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and laughs at the historic graffiti.
Her hike towards the Greenstone Ridge is a New Zealand flashback of mud and water, but soon heads high onto easy track.
The sky clears, but there are no views from the highest point, Mount Desor.
At Lake Desor, Blissful enjoys loons and a private, sandy beach looking right to the sunset.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 thimbleberries and blueberries.
Some-thing(one) protects her from a hike-stopping injury.
She sees beaver, loons, red squirrels, a black fox and several moose, including one giant bull with a huge rack.
She enjoys two beautiful sunsets on the Big Lake, including at enchanted Rainbow Cove, a beach of water-worn stones.
MUSIC: Over Wild Solitude by Katherine Bergmanas played by the St. Olaf Norseman Band (used by permission)
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 wounds, two woodpeckers poke out of a snag, chittering to each other and seemingly planning who will head out for food and how will stay with the young; it's magical.
The lesson that "we're only passing through" is made apparent as is that she will never pass this way again.
And this realization makes her feel gratitude for being invited into this wild world.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 young European friends to paddle down the river toward the coast.
The ranger invites them to camp on his lawn in Wenderholm.
A rock hop and a long road walk takes Blissful to Stillwater where another lawn camp is offered.
Another estuary with a deep river cross takes Blissful to the North Shore with on and off rain all the way to Devenport where the ferry shows up just as she walks down the pier.
MUSIC: Suite Argentina: Malambo by Horacio Salgán as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 together and offer Blissful a beer at the end of a hard day.
Breakfast is at the Dome Cafe where two more join in, also wise for their years, telling Blissful not to worry about anything and take each day as it comes.
They all meet up again at the Puhoi Pub where Blissful gets a well-deserved room fro the night.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 characters at Dragonspell who tell her how important it is to take the long walk, and that the trail will provide.
The resident kiwi sings to her before a long day of road walking.
Just when she loses hope, she's back at the beach and surfers convince her to camp in the dunes, permission given by the residents.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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, she sees a massive kauri and then wipes out and sprains her ankle.
A trail angel named Cheryl gives her ice, arnica and an Ace bandage.
Estuaries, beaches and bush take her finally to Tidesong, where she sees the "kayak boys" and a second chance to forgive and let go.
MUSIC: Movin' On by Rhonda Larson as played by Alison Young.
She swims in a refreshing pool with a friend and feels baptized in its refreshing coolness.
She doesn't skip the road and ends up in splendid Helena Bay, where two local trail angels take her in.
The walk gets much harder on "advanced tramping track" through the Morepork and Onekainga tracks.
She camps with another fellow hiker next to the Whananaki estuary and falls asleep knowing she will never pass this way again, so best to stay alert, present and fully alive where she is.
MUSIC: Introduccion y Allegro by Carlos Guastavino as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 pink eye picked up on "Conjunctivitis Coast," the Ninety Mile Beach in straight line winds.
Nervous on her first day hiking alone, she immediately loses her trail notes.
In Pahia, she rents a kayak and paddles with four hikers who take off, leaving her behind and bereft.
A night of star-filled wonder and new creatures humming and buzzing in the bush remind her she came here to challenge herself and that includes being vulnerable to fear and rejection.
Sure on this shining night Of starmade shadows round, Kindness must watch for me This side the ground. –James Agee
MUSIC: Suite by Ernst Krenek as played by Alison Young, flute and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic and Charles Johnson available on iTunes
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 her body, and how a change of attitude keeps a thru-hike – and life too –from becoming a bore.
She starts to miss mud on an "easy tramping track" through sheep poo, and is warned to be careful what you wish for.
She helps rescue an orphaned duckling before the day ends with a swim under waterfalls chased by a cold beer.
If ever there was a metaphor to illustrate the importance of the journey over the destination, it is life itself. For everyone who departs from birth is destined for death, so the journey IS life. Savor it! – Michele Jennae
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
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 a farm and road walk take her to a hamburger.
A rainy night at Apple Dam teaches her how to pack up a damp campsite.
Trail angels and curious sites keep her company on an easy walk.
A sidetrip to see magnificent Kauri remind her that she is exactly where she needs to be – walking the Te Araroa.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
A symphony of birdsong awakens me in the Raetea Forest, a cushion of grass my mattress and just enough water left for breakfast. My shoes and socks are caked with the stuff and I’m putting off placing my feet in them for as long as possible. Out of the forest, through a farm, then onto road. This is one of the major complaints about the Te Araroa.
It’s really not that bad as the road slowly climbs up, the Mangamuka Dairy right at the top of this hill. Apple Dam Camp is another wide grassy spot in the bush and it rained all night long. Waking up in rain is absolutely depleting. Ask any thru-hiker and they will likely tell you that it’s not the rain itself that’s the problem – it’s packing in rain.
I pass pastel colored bee boxes in uneven stacks, buzzing workers swarming the white flowered manuka nearby. A slow moving vehicle crawls closer and two hunters lean out to ensure I take the right turn at the next fork. Even though it’s midday, I pose my standard question, “Do you have a beer you could sell me?”
Only moments to the end, I break off from the rest and take a detour to Manginangina. This moment here, right now is magic, holy, like walking into a cathedral. Muir Woods of Australasia.
Aside from needing to find water and places to camp, the “getting there” aspect was pretty much absent. My walking became an act for its own sake. The continuous, rhythmic perambulation, and my own company and observations, brought me to the present moment of my feet very simply walking on this earth.
And you know what? That’s precisely why I came here.
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 bush, the Raetea Forest, which begins easily, but then plunges her straight into epic mud.
She hears the R2D2 squawk song of a Tui for the first time
She gets lost for a moment, but soon finds a wide grassy part of the trail to set her tent.
She learns about plunging straight through difficult passages, never making assumptions and always looking for the beauty around her.
MUSIC: Impresiones de la Puna by Alberto Ginastera as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
Does it count if cheating wasn’t my idea? Peter wonders if I’d “betray the mission” by having him drive me to the next town because the Te Araroa Trust had to divert the trail due to Kauri dieback.
The Ninety Mile Beach felt deserted, remote and lonely, and it’s not an understatement to say I feel culture shock pulling into the massive parking lot of an equally massive box store called Pak’nSav to pick up a few items for the coming days.
We bump and lurch up the Takahue Saddle Road to the Mangamuka Route. The air is cool and fresh, the smell so different now – sweetly pungent, earthy and moist.
But then he points to my left, to a tiny opening in the thick foliage. That’s the way? In there? It’s a trail about a meter wide aggressively cutting up the mountain now; straight up. The mud is thick and sticky, wet and slippery. Roots crisscross the path and I learn quickly not to try and balance on them as a means to avoid the mud, because they’re worse than the mud, greasy and unstable.
Irene and I are quiet in our thoughts and then she says, “A tui!” I hear a few bell-like sounds amidst clicks, cackles, creaks, groans and wheezes more like R2D2 than any bird I’d ever heard. I learn later tuis can sound like two birds because of their bifurcated sound-producing organ called a syrinx.
The afternoon gives way and the light begins to change, warming to a deep orange the tall Rimu covered in Dr. Seussian epicytes and long, black tendrilly, supplejack. A wooden sign points to Makene Road one way and TA SOBO (or southbound) the other with the encouraging words, “Only 2,850 kilometers to go!”
What about this day, I think. What has it taught me? To just plow through the tough stuff and not care if you get dirty. To never assume and to look and listen for all the beauty around you, even if you’re tired and uncertain you’ll find a flat place to camp.
That’s the wonder of hiking, that you really, truly have to let go – of expectations, of being hard on yourself, of having to do things in the right way because sometimes the day just gets away from you and you have to improvise.
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 Nahmakanta Stream and she grabs a corner spot.
Wet and cold, she is reminded of the book Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales where he says, "“Stop denying and begin surviving. You don’t have to be elite or perfect, just get on with it and do the next right thing.”
And this is exactly what she does, focusing her negative emotions to doing the next right thing - to stay as dry and warm as possible, and to keep moving ahead.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
The Te Araroa – or long pathway – dispenses with formalities, taking the Blissful Hiker onto an exposed start of drenching squalls, inconvenient tides and a never-ending roar of the waves.
In this episode:
The Blissful Hiker starts walking the Ninety Mile Beach, a long strip of sand that will take three days to complete, a baptism by fire for causing injury, boredom and many hikers to quit the Te Araroa.
She learns that thru-hiking is a lesson in patience.
Her tent, the alicoop, crashes down in the ferocious wind, but the TA goddess stops the rain, and she reorients it under a blanket of stars.
On the final day, the wind changes, coming directly in her face, but she rises to the challenge, met in Ahipara by a new friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend.
MUSIC: Pastorale Calchaqui by Hector Gallac as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano available on iTunes
The Te Araroa – or long pathway – dispenses with formalities, taking any hiker who dares onto an exposed start of drenching squalls, inconvenient tides and a never-ending roar of sound that begins as a curious lullaby, but in time, crescendos to a scream.
Fortunately, I’ve been warned about the beach, mostly told not to underestimate how difficult it is even though a simple point A to point B, on flat ground. Even young and healthy hikers manage to injure themselves with painful tendonitis, shin splints or shred their tender city-feet in a mass of blisters. Total exposure to the elements of wind, rain, and sun, no water and loud monotony make this one of the most difficult starts of any thru-hike in the world. It’s a baptism by fire – or more accurately, water.
Beautiful, lovingly built stairs with rubber grips take us steeply down through the bush. Little did I know this would be one of only a handful of well-built and maintained portions of the 3,000 kilometer trail.
It looks like it was my turn for my tent – the alicoop – to crash down on me. It’s no one’s fault, really, certainly not the gear, just that I set behind a wind screen that only protected me for the half of the night before the wind changed directions.
To survive today’s, I make a plan to divide it into thirds. I’ll use each 10k section to consider some ‘deep thoughts.’
1. What causes a person to make the decision to walk for five months?
2. Why does said person need a plan to get through a particularly long, hard day?
3. What must it feel like to be free, like one of these wild horses?
In no time, the wind picks up to dry me off. But this time, it’s straight in my face. At Ahipara, Peter treats me like his own daughter, looking at me with concern when he remarks that I have sand on my cheeks and in the corners of my eyes.
Joining me for a glass of wine he wonders if it would be considered cheating to skip the long, dangerous road walk to Kaitaia and allow him to drive me to the next section.
The Blissful Hiker flies to New Zealand, drives to the Meeting Place of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean at Cape Reinga and within 36 hours, she begins to walk the Te Araroa towards Bluff.
In this episode:
The Blissful Hiker has her first encounter with authentic Kiwi "trail angel" hospitality.
She's taken up the winding, roller-coaster roads of Northland to Cape Reinga.
She learns security is just an illusion and we have to take risks to truly live.
She immediately begins hiking and just as immediately takes a wrong turn.
Rain, hail, hot sun, tides and the constant sound of waves are her companions for the first 100 kilometers.
MUSIC: The Horizon from Owhiro Bay by Gareth Farr (used by permission) The Pee Rag by Stacia Bennett
The Show:
I found out what a pee rag is right around the same time I met Irene on Facebook. She’s a Kiwi from Hamilton, planning to walk the TA in sections. She planned to start from Cape Reinga on October 29, my start date.
I fly over puffy clouds above crystalline bays abutting sandy beaches fed by winding streams and estuaries. Hilly bright green pastures and dark bush see rain falling in the distance, and the ocean beyond that to infinity. If all goes as planned, to walk back to Auckland, will take me a month.
I’m out of my comfort zone, having reckoned with what really matters in my life and putting to the test risking security for something intangible. Helen Keller wrote “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Security is an illusion. You have to risk a bit of adventure to really live.
This part of the country is called Northland or the far, far, north. The sky clears above a wide track through flax and yucca, azure waves in long rows crashing beneath us as we rise up on high cliffs. We spot our first trail sign, a plastic orange triangle nailed onto a wooden post. It leads us away from the beach up onto a sandy bluff dotted with bright yellow lupine.
“I sure hope we’re not lost,” Irene says, just as I realize, we most surely are.
Irene and I were never really lost, just misguided.
Oyster Catchers peep at us as we pass, their eyes looking askance. Sponges, jellyfish and small piles of broken shells fan out at the water’s edge. It all seems a bit unreal, the route taking us under the curve of a rainbow towards another squall line and tonight’s destination.
The Blissful Hiker realizes there's no "there" to get to, learning to live in the moment, face vulnerability straight on – while at the same time, opening herself up to "the ecstatic experience."
In this episode:
The Blissful Hiker sorts out the myriad details before departing on the 3,000 kilometer Te Araroa.
She learns she can only plan so much before needing to make peace with not knowing how the story will unfold.
She also learns to be present and ‘hold her soul ajar to welcome the ecstatic experience.’
She shares the first words she learns in Maori, ones that mean ‘hello,’ but also, ‘be well,’ ‘be safe,’ ‘be filled with gratitude.'
kia ora: Māori greeting, literally "be well!"
MUSIC: Erik Satie, Gymnopedie No. 1; Kevin MacLeod, Apero Hour; Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 (used by permission)
The Show: John Kaag writes in his book, Hiking with Nietzsche, that the great philosopher wants us to be wanderers, but not as a traveler to a final destination, for this destination does not exist.
If you arrive at a final destination, it’s a sign that you’ve set your sights too low. On a long walk who we are is about recovering from who we think we are.
Backpacking is about coming to grips with this projection requiring me to live in the moment, face my vulnerability straight on – while at the same time, opening myself up, like the words of Emily Dickinson, The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.
The Blissful Hiker sells her flute to make the dream of walking a long-distance thru-hike a reality before it's too late and arthritis takes over her body.
In this episode:
Meet ex-professional flutist and voracious hiker, the Blissful Hiker.
With arthritis taking over her body, time was running out.
But once she voiced her dream to walk a long trail, the universe conspired to make it happen.
And letting go of her professional flute, brought her one step closer to New Zealand’s long pathway, the Te Araroa.
MUSIC: The music in this episode is Argentine composer Angel Lasala’s Poema del Pastor Coyaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
The Show: My name is alison young and I am the Blissful Hiker. Walking was always my solace, the place I found peace, got centered and came up with creative ideas. My earliest memory is of looking down at my feet as they took me from our house in New York up a winding sidewalk to the back door of the church where my father was the minister. I had places to go! Up there was nursery school.
I had a long, hard, fraught but ultimately deeply satisfying and successful career as a professional flutist that took me all over the world, until one day in my mid-thirties when I couldn’t move my fingers. It seems I had developed a neurological condition, dystonia, and it ended my career.
I played with great orchestras, made recordings, toured, taught, but much of what I did in my life was unrelated to making music. I had this kind of part-time gig as a hiker and when I traveled, I’d fit in some walking like in Japan, China, Pakistan, Switzerland, Argentina, and of course all over the United States. Blissful Hiker’s little motto of “walking the world” is kind of spot on.
When radio took over my life, I would work weekends to stockpile a few priceless extra days to take even more adventurous hikes, which only whet my appetite for more – and longer – hikes. I wanted to see what it felt like to walk far, a thru-hike of thousands of miles, something verging on a lifestyle.
But I kept that dream a secret for a long time – though time was running out – dystonia screwed up my hands so I couldn’t play the flute at a high professional level and now, I was developing arthritis in my feet. Would I also lose the ability to walk?
How lovely it is to dream while you are awake. Anybody can dream while they're asleep, but you need to dream all the time, and say our dreams out loud, and believe in them. –Andre Agazzi
It’s kind of woowoo, but I have had the experience where when I voice something I want, things begin to change, like the universe is conspiring to make things happen.
And then there was that flute sale. It turned out one of my adult students wanted to buy it. When we got to the moment I put the flute in her hands, she she presented me with her first student flute from grade school, a little silver-plated jobbie with a sweet sparkly tone. “Let’s make a trade,” she said. “This flute for a flute lesson.”
New friends of fellow hikers give Blissful courage and she makes it to the next site now with dried out gear – only to survive yet another night of soaking rain.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 pack her gear in compression sacks that fail completely.
The walk out of Baxter State Park is flat and easy, the trail lined with wildflowers and filled with bird song.
At Abol Bridge, she meets other hikers and they look back at Katahdin as the air turns black, lightnings strikes the summit and it begins pouring rain.
Maine rain is different in humid, saturated air and she's almost immediately soaked through.
At the warning sign, three miles ahead of the first shelter at Hurd Brook, it begins to hail.
She sets her tent with new friends who offer dry clothes and to share their tent if she gets too cold, but somehow she sleeps well through the night in a lumpy and clammy down quilt.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 at Katahdin Stream Campground, Blissful walks steeply up to spectacular views before hitting boulders requiring crawling, pressing, pulling and squeezing with only a few iron ladders to help.
The tableland is easy walking, but exposed and hot with no wind and swarms of flies.
At the top, Blissful meets a cohort of thru-hikers and carefully returns right before a loud thunder clap.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 by its silvery cascades on volcanic rock.
A short walk along Lake Superior and she's back in forest following another river, the Little Carp where she camps next to a pool reflecting gold and red fall colors.
The next day she climbs to the high point at Summit Peak, then down to gorgeous Mirror Lake and finally a private site on a beaver pond filled with nature's sound including chipmunks, owls, beaver and a howling wolf.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 Superior.
Her first day is along the escarpment above Lake of the Clouds to her stunning campsite with a large rock apron looking out to the astounding view.
Birds and a wolf celebrate the setting sun and the stars coming out.
As she crawls into her tent, an acorn bombardment spooks her reminding her that this is indeed a wilderness.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasalaas played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano
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 ultimate decline, and yet it opens us up to discover our superpowers, like moving forward to see what's next.
It's the price we pay for being alive, but it offers us a chance to appreciate what we have even more.
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano.
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 saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits."
10) 5:41 You are stronger than you think you are "If I waited for perfection, I’d never write a word."
MUSIC: Poema del Pastor Coya by Angel Lasala and Milongs sin palabras by Astor Pizzolla as played by Alison Young, flute and Vicki Seldon, piano