Author Archives: shaylaparadeis

A journey is alive in every moment. Each step. Katahdin was not a place to reach for, it is a place to be, among many. What matters to me is what’s been here, alongside me. This hike has been a celebration of what I’ve got. I love my body so much, it makes me cry.Continue reading “What We Carry”

10. Rain that is warm. I don’t get this luxury in the Rockies. When it rains and I am out there, I have to think about safety. Out here, I am wearing a dress and I would be stupid not to dance. 9. White Blazes. Are you kidding me? Someone has done the work toContinue reading “Top 10 Reasons the A.T. is the BEST TRAIL EVER!”

I told them everything, because they were four women with gray hair and strong bodies on a ridgeline in Maine. With the same satisfaction you get when you spot a recycling basket on the block and go directly to it, because that’s where the thing in your hand goes. I learned myself, as I toldContinue reading “Truth”

I’m here. Now. This time. I’m sorry about last time. Probably it’s all the same to you, but to me, it matters. It matters that I smell you. That I have time to taste the blueberries and meet the locals. That I laugh and drink PBR with your wiley ones, and talk about your wileyContinue reading “Misty Maine Morning”

I approached the tough part of this journey with the best send-off possible; a hike with Stephen and Banner up Smarts Mountain. It felt good to be walking with him and it felt ridiculously true that the mountains were getting steeper and more technical. Here it comes. I know that I had a hard timeContinue reading “The White Mountains”

With entering New England came some of the happiest times I’ve had so far. My mother picked me up from a nice woman’s yard in Salisbury, CT and stuck with me for 8 days. I love hiking with my mother, she is incredible road support and it feels like home to get to each roadContinue reading “Ay Mi Familia”

The window of a train this time, my 3rd time, approaching New York City. Coming slowly in from the Appalachian Trail gave it gravity and a dreamy glow. That one could step out of the woods onto a platform, pay 22 bucks, then emerge in Manhattan. There is was, the empire state building making itContinue reading “8 Hours in Manhattan”

I spend a pretty good amount of time on a soap box about actual danger. I think I get this tendency from two major platforms of my life; my love for walking alone and my love of predators. There’s so much fear in our culture, and I find the marketing of it to be ratherContinue reading “Real Danger”

Though the trail has been good to me, and I’m grateful for the journey, I have to confess to the sadness. In the last week I’ve been heart sick for my family. I passed through a lot of AT landmarks that held memories from ten years ago. Places like the Mason-Dixon Line, where Sara-Tide andContinue reading “Empty Chairs”