On Boredom
On Boredom A scene from Gus Van Sant’s film Gerry is a three and a half minute tracking shot of the profiles of the two main characters, both named Gerry, in tight focus as they trudge across a vast and empty desert. While the audience might marvel at the technical virtuosity, they also feel and […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 35, June 14, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 35, June 14, 2022 The ends of long trails usually have a certain drama, none perhaps more than the obligatory Katahdin sign pose at the end of the Appalachian Trail. The Te Araroa begins with a lighthouse at Cape Reinga but ends at a less impressive signpost at Bluff. The […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 34 June 13, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 34 June 13, 2022 Weather remained dismal so I met my fishermen friends for breakfast in Kylesku and later went with them to Rhiconish. In our conversation it became clear they had a deep understanding of the history of the area derived from their on-the-ground (or in-the-river) experiences of place. […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 26, June 5, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 26, June 5, 2022 Long distance walking always brings new sights, but after many years, usually not any real novelty about how to walk. Today taught a lesson. Having grown up in the mountains of Virginia, I was early acquainted with wilderness paths, while at the same time, I became […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 25, June 4, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 25, June 4, 2022 I stopped briefly at a bothy this afternoon and had a conversation with Simon, a man walking part of the Cape Wrath Trail. He had settled in for the day while I was planning to push ahead to the next bothy about 8 km further on. […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 2 May 12, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 2 May 12, 2022 When hiking the Appalachian trail, I tended to obsess over wet feet (an unfortunate obsession to have, particularly in Vermont). The trail is so brutal, it beats your feet to death, so factors like wet feet can exacerbate an already fragile constitution. On New Zealand’s Te […]
Career
Career The northern parts of Benton Mackaye Trail prior to entering the Great Smoky Mountain National Park generally consist of thin, overgrown paths—steep, rutted, rooted, wet, rocky, and usually devoid of other humans (plenty of nonhumans though). Solitude in those circumstances is not contemplative. Instead each step must be taken with care and precision, a […]
Walkers Have Never Been Modern
Walkers Have Never Been Modern for Bruno Latour Robert MacFarlane along with Stanley Donwood and Dan Richards wrote a beautiful little book called Holloway. A holloway is “a sunken path, a deep & shady lane. A route that centuries of foot-fall, hoof-hit, wheel-roll, & rain-run have harrowed into the land.” In other words, a holloway […]
A Walker of Rivers
A Walker of Rivers Water–you’d have thought I’d had enough of it. Starting the Te Araroa on September 1st (against the advice of everyone consulted), I sloshed my way through the Herekino and Rataea forests, splashed up the Mangapukahukanu, climbed any number of peaks to admire the fog, and even tried (unsuccessfully) to wade across […]
Brutal Beauty
Brutal Beauty The Appalachian Trail is often called the “green tunnel,” an acknowledgement of the dense forest canopy that surrounds the footpath. Couple that with uneven terrain that demands downcast eyes and you have an experience that by and large is devoid of the spectatorial beauty used to advertise and celebrate the trail. Those magnificent […]