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 frien

cancer thriver

Feb 29th, 2024 12m 32s

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 glacie

Inhabiting the Vulnerable Space

Feb 22nd, 2024 8m 36s

As Blissful heals from a bilateral mastectomy due to breast cancer, she reflects on the person she wants to be going forward. Blissful is incredibly lucky in only having to undergo a radical surgery to rid her body of cancer. Step by step walki

Good Luck, Bad Luck

Feb 15th, 2024 11m 54s

When Blissful is diagnosed with breast cancer, she undergoes a bilateral mastectomy to save her life and secure her future.A friend tells Blissful she has it easy because she has a partner in her husband Richard. Indeed, she is incredibly grate

Breast Cancer Trail: Bye, Bye Boobs

Feb 8th, 2024 12m 54s

Blissful begins her cancer journey looking back at her life as a woman. Blissful spends the days before a bilateral mastectomy gathering together a team of supportive women who have been through the procedure.She also walks, hikes, bikes, swims

Appalachian Trail: going home

Feb 1st, 2024 15m 30s

Blissful wraps up her hike of the Appalachian Trail in Maine to head home for cancer treatment. The two days between Monson and Caratunk are rain-free and magical with a winter wren, hermit thrush, northern parula plus warty frogs and a curious

Appalachian Trail: Magic at Moxie Bald Pond

Jan 25th, 2024 15m 16s

Blissful makes it out of the 100 Mile Wilderness and receives a call from her doctor calling her home to have a bilateral mastectomy.It's wet and muddy but mostly road out to Monson, Maine, the first town in ten days.She has to go home, but not

Appalachian Trail: gratitude for hiker and creature alike

Jan 18th, 2024 12m 33s

The trail is hard in rain, mud and cold, but Blissful gets the boost she needs from hiker and creature. It's mountainous now in the 100-mile Wilderness, revealing only misty views of distant lakes enveloped in thick forest. The "Sibs", two thr

Appalachian Trail: White Cap Mountain

Jan 11th, 2024 14m 5s

Blissful crosses a high, exposed peak in fog and rain then discovers she needs to go further than she thought. Hiking south on the Appalachian Trail, it's the first high mountains since Katahdin, but the weather is manageable. And there are

Artist-in-Residence | Porcupine Mountains Wilderness

Jan 4th, 2024 11m 37s

Blissful creates an audio narrative as an Artist-in-Residence at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. During her artistic residency, she immersed herself in the vividly sonorous landscape , collecting sound a

Appalachian Trail: A River Runs Through It

Dec 28th, 2023 12m 29s

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-d

Appalachian Trail: you're only passing through

Dec 21st, 2023 12m 11s

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 a

Appalachian Trail: do the next right thing

Dec 14th, 2023 12m 17s

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 ca

Appalachian Trail: one fine day

Dec 7th, 2023 9m 7s

Blissful is ill-prepared for the constant damp, but discovering an inner fierceness to solve her problems and keep moving ahead. The summer of 2023 on the Appalachian Trail (AT) is the wettest in memory.But this one day in Northern Maine is tha

Appalachian Trail: nature could care less

Nov 30th, 2023 14m 19s

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 ca

Appalachian Trail: Mount Katahdin

Nov 23rd, 2023 13m 13s

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

Set Your Sights Low

May 4th, 2023 6m 30s

Blissful shares insights about setting flexible goals."Summit Fever" is one of the consequences of setting one single big goal and can cause us to fail every day, sometimes with tragic consequences. Rather than goals, setting systems can work i

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Part 2

Apr 6th, 2023 17m 39s

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 ep

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Part 1

Mar 30th, 2023 13m 46s

Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 3

Mar 23rd, 2023 8m 40s

This week, Blissful Hiker completes the list of ten lessons from the trail that are helping her now.In this episode: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 wi

Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 2

Mar 16th, 2023 11m 26s

This week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now.In this episode::38 Let the day unfold “I think that’s what I love about my life. There’s no maniacal master plan. It’s just unfolding before me.”3:02 Trail

Ten Things I Learned While Long Distance Backpacking Vol. 1

Mar 9th, 2023 9m 41s

This week, Blissful Hiker shares some lessons from the trail that are helping her now. In this episode:1:30 Take Risks “The most hopeful thing you are doing is taking these months to repair your body for the next hikes.” 3:42 Stay in the Pres

injury stops forward motion but not joy

Mar 2nd, 2023 9m 27s

One year ago Blissful Hiker set her feet on the Arizona Trail and planned to return to walk the final 100 miles, but an injury interrupted the trip. In this episode:This time of year is called "Lent" and is all about waiting and preparing, as w

yes, regrets!

Feb 23rd, 2023 10m 3s

Regret can actually act as the motivating fuel to push us towards our goals.Phrases like "no regrets!" are helpful in keeping us focussed on the future and not on mistakes from the past.And yet, looking with openness at what we regret from the

why do I hike alone?

Feb 16th, 2023 7m 42s

Blissful Hiker shares the reasons she hikes alone, to get grounded, to engage more deeply with the world around me and to do so at my own pace.Being alone in nature has been practiced by all civilizations to build self-reliance and connect with