Outside Reading II: Trail Journals

While doing reading through blogs to find some to use for the paper, I was really intrigued by a hiker named Glide On. He has thru hiked the trail many times over the course of his life and has also hiked the trail in sections. But what I found most interesting about him is his relationship with the trail. Not only is he a veteran thru hiker and day hiker, he is a "trail angel" as well providing food and water to hikers at various points throughout the trail. As a hiker and trail blogger he demonstrates some concepts we have learned in class. “Usually, I keep to myself, hiking at my own slow and steady pace, enjoying the natural world surrounding me - that is, immersed in the universe, with few of the worries and concerns of the trail culture passing me” (Glide On, 2014). While on the trail, he doesn't just walk on the trail but he "enters" it and immerses himself in it completely. In addition to "entering" the space he views the world around him as a "theater full of wonder", both concepts of which can be found in Lane's Landscapes of the Sacred.