Hiking Along: A Feminist's Journey Through Teaching, Parenting & Outdoor Adventure

Dear B & V, Have I contributed to the degradation of this place I’ve loved for so long? Maybe degradation is a hyperbole but this word expresses the depth of my feelings. However in reality, my favorite park hasn't been destroyed nor do I have the hand of god to cause her degradation.  Change has occurred though to her natural space to alter my feelings about this place. Now when I hike the intimacy of her valley walls, my feelings turn to sadness, frustration and disappointment. Where once there was a single track hugging her stream banks, there is now a network of trails that spider, interlacing each other up and down her walls. Where once the species that make her valley home, she is now invaded by our lazy, man-made foot paths cutting through her living room. Where once there were blue, blazed trees standing erect adjacent to her trails, they are now toppled by the compaction of hundreds of daily tread strikes on her soil. Where once numerous wildflowers carpeted

Dear B & V, The hum and beeping were a distraction from the question being debated in my head - "should I stay or should I go?". I was in my fourth day of a six day hike on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail (LHHT) in Pennsylvania.  During the trip, I faced multiple  obstacles: a lack of sleep due to busy mice, storms and noise pollution and the Mid-Atlantic being gripped by the biggest heatwave in years. However, these were not causing me to ask this question. It was loneliness. I chose this solo trip to discover if I could break my four day record of being on the trail by myself. A few years prior, I had hiked the Appalachian Trail (AT) during an extended weekend. The difference between the LHHT and the AT is the amount of traffic. Each day and evening on the AT, I crossed and shared conversations with new people. Traversing the LHHT, I encountered a dozen hikers. On day three and four, I saw no one until the end of day four. I spent 36 hours by and with mysel

Dear B & V, Joy is not the same as happiness but many similarities exist between the two. I think of happiness as a sustained feeling, while joy is more momentary. Sustaining happiness throughout life is difficult but finding much joy can create happiness. Happiness rides a roller coaster, at times the coaster is struggling up hill and happiness feels out of reach. Then, the coaster reaches the crest, the view is spectacular and the ride downhill is thrilling - joy inducing. Joy makes me smile. Sometimes joy creates spontaneous laughter that makes my checks hurt and my belly ache. Joy makes my body feel light, often like wearing the most soft and fluffy slippers. It heightens my senses, like a thousand receptors feeling, seeing, smelling and hearing. It makes me feel bold and strong, like a female champion arm wrestler. In essence, joy makes me feel alive, like all my neurons are sparkling with electrical impulses. Joy is a gift whether created by oneself or shared between pe

"No! Go!" I yelled. I repeated it, this time intensifying my volume. There was something about this blonde-furred, blue-eyed, unattached dog that caused the warning bells to sound in my head. Maybe it was increased levels of cortisol pulsing through my body due to weeks of stress. It was likely both. I turned with Fern and walked backwards, keeping my blue eyes on its until this unaccompanied dog stopped on the trail. I pivoted and hiked quickly back towards the trailhead a little less than a mile away. I climbed the hill and then heard the jiggle of tags and the crunch of leaves behind me. My head snapped back. The dog had followed us. I yelled, "No! Go!" And again. I continued up the hill with my heart pounding, my breathe short, sweat pouring down my back and panic. "Why is this dog following us?" It wasn't just following us down the trail but through the woods in a sneaky way. Was this real? This scenario continued for the remainder

   Each summer, our family vacation centers on spending time in a national or state park which has been set aside because someone (or a group of people) knew there was something special about the land. So we've got to check it out! This summer we traveled to Quebec province, in particular the areas of Lac Saint Jean and Saguenay River three hours north of Quebec City. The Saguenay River is well known for its breathtaking fjords and beluga whales. Much land along the Saguenay is protected by two parks, Parc Marin du Saguenay-Saint-Laurent and Parc National du Fjord-Du-Saguenay, which is managed by Sepaq .     After this trip, I fell even more in love with Canada's parks. Three years ago, we spent two weeks in Nova Scotia at Cape Breton, Kemjikujik and Five Islands. The Canadian government and its citizens treasure their land and have invested many tax dollars to conserve it and provide excellent recreational resources. For example, trails are well maintained with good s

Dear B & V, Unlike teaching, parenting isn't a major someone takes in college to prepare themselves to be a mom or dad. Parenting just happens, purposefully or accidentally. When a child is born, parents are thrown into parenthood with only the model of generations before them. Some models are good and some not so. Most people, consciously or subconsciously, have taken bits from how they were raised and used it to build their own parenting philosophy. The preparation to become a teacher is quite opposite of preparing to be a parent. Many teachers earn an undergraduate degree in education: taking classes, observing teachers and student-teaching under the mentorship of a veteran teacher. My journey was a bit more unconventional. I threw myself into teaching as a grad student, discovered I liked it, became a substitute teacher and was offered a job teaching without knowledge of educational pedagogy. Therefore, my path into teaching more closely aligned with parenting; tr

Dear B & V, ... President. This weekend marks one year since Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States and millions of men, women and children gathered around the world to protest his presidency and empower women's political engagement. As I think back, I experienced a range of emotions starting on November 8, 2016 through January 2017: anticipation to elect the first female president, disappointment, despair, anger, frustration, betrayal, hope, sense of community, rage, and a continued questioning of who I am. One year later, I admit I resigned myself to fluctuating feelings of hopelessness and disgust. Both have elicited a desire for a silent world free from news and my internal voice that lashes out (maybe this is why I've hiked so much this year - the silence of the trail has been so peaceful). It is that internal voice that is going public before I retreat back into hopeless isolation. Therefore, my disgusted, Gen X, privileged, white woman voic