I wished I had done more reading before I set foot on the Appalachian Trail last week. When I say more reading, I don’t mean more preparation. I mean more reading about the wonders of the AT and its rich history.
I wish I had read more books about nature instead of focusing on the pile of analysis and nonfiction critiques I often read as part of my work.
This poem by Mary Oliver, one of my favorite poets, was on the current page of her book “Devotions,” which is a collection of her own poetry she created before her death in 2019.
“Ordinarily I go to the woods alone, with not a single
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.
I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds
or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of
praying, as. you no doubt have yours.
Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit
on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds,
until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost
unhearable sound of the roses singing.
————-
If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love
you very much.”
Going to the woods is a sacred act of sorts for me. The woods are where God feels the most real to me. There is so much pain in the name of God in the real world. In the woods, God is in the wind, the storms, the way rain sounds when it hits oak leaves.
Ok, I’m getting too poetic here. Let’s talk the details of preparing to live in the woods for three days and not get eaten by bears.
I underestimated how many Ziploc bags I would need for a backpacking trip. Everything is in a bag, that’s in a bag in a bigger bag that’s in a smellproof bag that’s inside a bear canister that’s really annoying to open.
I wonder how many ounces of my base weight is Ziploc bags?
I never found out, but I was really unprepared for the pile of plastic bags I would throw out after my three days in the woods.
This was my first backpacking trip ever. It was my mom’s first backpacking trip too, so we were relying on Callie’s expertise and a lot of blog posts from the current thru-hiker bubble.
Callie graciously helped us whittle down our pack weight and gave us all kinds of great advice about what to bring and what to leave at home.
On May 18, Mom drove up to my house in Nashville to pick up me and my gear before continuing on to Damascus with Mom. May 18 is Mom’s birthday, so I made her some of my special homemade cinnamon rolls.
Here they are:
They’re pretty dang delicious (and they’re vegan!) Maybe I should make a blog post about my cinnamon rolls. Is that something y’all would want? Let me know in the comments.
Moving on, we planned to stay the night May 18 in Damascus, Virginia, and get a shuttle to Shook Branch, TN, our starting point. Mom and I rolled into our hostel, Lady Di’s Bed and Breakfast, around 1 a.m. Thursday. In 8.5 short hours, we would be getting on our shuttle to Shook Branch.
The smell of coffee and the soft crooning of Stevie Nicks woke me up before 7 a.m. So much for a good night’s rest before I’m off to sleep in the woods for two nights. Good thing I packed extra instant coffee.
We enjoyed breakfast, did some last minute packing and sorting of gear, then we were off to catch a ride south.
Day 1: Shook Branch to Vandeventer Shelter coming next :)
Keep wandering :) - Anna
Of course we want the cinnamon roll details. They look freaking amazing. It takes 107 ziploc bags. :-D
I would love the vegan roll recipe. What a great adventure for you and your mom.