Happy belated Earth Day!

Spring greetings from Fontana Dam, NC. I am at the southern most tip of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 163 miles into the Trail. The Smoky Mountains are said to be some of the hardest mountains on the entire trail with mountains going over 6,600 feet! And it is also said to be the most diverse forest in North America! I'm excited but a bit nervous, wish me luck!

I've attached some pictures from my trip so far. Flowers in Georgia spring, my "trail family:" from left to right: "Bee-Man" or Brian from Texas, myself, "Bonnie" or S-n-P and her husband Mark, or "Hack" both from Brooklyn, NY. We have been hiking together since the beginning and having a blast :) The last picture is of me on the very first day of my trip with my pack weighing in at (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkk) 45 pounds! I've happily dropped it down to 39 and am still working on getting it lower but will not give up my ukuelele! For those of you who are wondering why I am calling my friends these strange names, here on the Appalachian Trail we have trail names. Trail names are either chosen or given to hikers to describe their trail identity. I chose Gaucha long ago when I started studying the lifestyle of the "gaucho" in one of my Spanish classes. A "gaucho" is a South American cowboy that drinks yerba mate (a delicious and healthy tea), plays guitar and sings, wears a cool hat, and travels around the South American continent by horse. I am the North American female version of this with a ukulele on the Appalachian Trail :)

I've been thinking about how nature can be so healing, how in many ways this trip is a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage to cleanse my system of all the distractions and baggage that keeps me from living life fully, reminding me what's really important in life: friends, family and the community around us, including the birds and the bees and the butterflies and trees :) And I've been thinking about dreams and how dreams are really visions to live life with greater abundance and depth. That push us to create goals and adventures to be sought after. And I've been thinking (and pinching myself) about how I am following my dreams on this trail, that I am living my dream to be a more alive human being, living life to the fullest. And I am :) And I thank God that I am! And I pray that you are too. Go out for a walk, you might find some of those dreams somewhere out here in our beautiful mother nature...

Until next time,

Gaucha