This week my 2.5 month journey on the Appalachian trail came to a close. I did 115 miles in 6 days, and summited Mt Kathadin on Friday of this week, in a thunderstorm no less…. Quite the finale! It has been an incredible journey these last 2 months and I am honored to have been able to share it with you, my friends and family. Looking forward to the next adventure!

This is it! I am entering my final week on trail! Today I will enter the 100 mile wilderness in Maine, and next Saturday I will summit Mt Kathadin, officially completing my Applachian trail adventure this summer. As I approach the end of my journey I thought I would share with you a few of the most memorable meditations that I experienced while on trail. I hope you enjoy and can take some insights away from my experience.

This week was nothing short of incredible! I had perfect weather for 5 straight days going through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, one of the prettiest, and most challenging, stretches of the entire Appalachian trail. I had several instances this week in which God provided for me in such abundance and answered prayers that I hadn’t even thought to pray yet. God is so good, and this week was such a memorable one for so many reasons. Enjoy as I recount one of my favorite weeks on trail so far!

this week did not go according to plan at all…. And yet, even so God continued to bless me abundantly. You would think I would have learned by now that God’s plans are always so much better than my own, but in my human nature I find myself clinging to my own plans far too often, even when it’s obvious that my plans are far inferior to whatever Gos has in store. This week was good reminder for me of the fact that even when im “off schedule” God has placed me precisely where I need to be. ————————————————for those who have tried to listen to this week’s episode and have encountered technical difficulties, I have reuploaded the audio file, so now you should be able to listen to the first 7 minutes or so. The intro and rose bud thorn segment was the piece that got cut off. Thank for your patience everyone!

This week I contracted lymes disease and ended up having to get off trail for a few days ( hence the delay in posting ). But despite all the trials and suffering and pain that has come from this experience, I wouldn’t change a thing because this week has also been a very joyful week too, for a variety of reasons. And I’m confident that God put right where I needed to be when I needed to be there. I Hope you enjoy this week’s episode, and in particular, I hope my insight at the end can help you to remember what’s most important in life. Life is about relationships and loving those around us, because ultimately nothing else is coming to heaven with us. The only “things” we can bring with us are our friends.

In today’s episode I interview my god friend Jaqueline Hale (trail name Polaris) a good friend of mine and fellow thru hiker from the class of 2022. I’m excited to share her story on trial, as well as the story of Campinarius, which is how we both met. I hope you enjoy this week’s episode!

This week’s episode features a series of different short segments highlighting each of the people and groups that I encountered on trail this week. I hope that in sharing their stories, you can get a glimpse into the wonderful diversity of people I have encountered so far on my journey….enjoy!

This week the trail took me by Greymoor spiritual retreat center in the Hudson Valley. As I stopped in it all fell into place for me to do an interview with Fr. Dan Calahan. Aka the iron friar! Hope you enjoy this week’s episode learning about the Friars and the great work they do in the Hudson valley!

This week’s episode will feature my very first interview on the podcast! I am excited to share with you my conversation with Sherry Blackman, who is the head pastor at the Presbyterian Church of the Mountain in Delaware Water Gap PA. The trail goes right through this small town and her church hosts a hostel for hikers to stay at. I really enjoyed my conversation with her about her ministry and I’m hope you do too! Also I did a total of 98 miles this week, just shy of my goal of 100 miles/week. So I am right on pace! ————————————————For those who may be interested here are a few links to the 2 books that Sherry mentioned in today’s episode. ————————————————https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Trail-Stories-Oldest-Appalachian-ebook/dp/B09SRS567L/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1684065938&refinements=p_27%3ASherry+Blackman&s=books&sr=1-1————————————————https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Our-Daughters-Sherry-Blackman/dp/B0B3P4HTYD/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1684065938&refinements=p_27%3ASherry+Blackman&s=books&sr=1-2

This week marks the final chapter of my time in the great state of Pennsylvania! As I reflect on my time on trail so far I’m struck by the immense generosity I experienced from people this week, both on and off the trial. I also reflect this week on the importance of hiking your own hike, and having your own experience on trail, one that isn’t tied to anyone else’s expectations or agenda. I did experience a handful of technical difficulties in this week’s episode and a I botched a few of the transitions between segments. Thanks for bearing with me and hopefully next week I can avoid some of those same mistakes. Unfortunately I simply didn’t have time this week to go back and fix them before I lost service headed out into the woods. Enjoy episode 4!