I’m in South Carolina! Had a long drive to Asheville, NC and stayed with a friend of a friend (thanks Will and Ashley!). The south welcomed me with mountains upon mountains and billboards advertising moonshine. I drove down to Table Rock State Park this morning. I stopped at a diner on the way and was greeted with thick Southern accents. Treated myself to an omelette and pancakes, knowing this would be one of the last decent meals for awhile. I am spending the night in a hotel. It is right down the road from Table Rock State Park. At 7am tomorrow, I will be picked up at the park by a volunteer driver, Jim, from the Foothills Trail Conference. Jim will drive me an hour to Oconee State Park and around 8am I will begin my 76 mile walk back to my car at Table Rock. It’s funny how this simple hour long car trip will require five nights, 5.5 days worth of food, a tent, water treatment system, and clean socks (among other things) when trekking by foot. This will be my first solo backpacking trip. I am nervous and excited.
I completed a work-trade commitment at a yoga center over January and February, and had plenty of time for self reflection. I was trying to figure out what to do in March, and realized I needed to reconnect to the sacred feminine of nature. I needed to take a step back from the teachings of realized yogis and move into the formlessness of Mother Nature. In this short amount of time on Earth, we must be true to ourselves. I am always drawn back to the natural world and all that she provides. She and all of her inhabitants, plant and animal, are made of the same stuff, the same building blocks. I cannot deny this connection. Part of me also needs to prove to myself that yes, as a woman, I can do this. Tomorrow I will take the first literal and figurative steps on this path.
