Nemophilist: A haunter of the woods; one who loves the forest and its beauty and solitude.
But for the poor, benighted, heathen sinner, desiring enjoyment that shall be honest, cheap, satisfying, and attainable, I say, in the full faith of the creed of Nemophily, – Get into the woods! No matter what you expect to find there, – go and see what you can find. The Atlantic, 1860.
I grew up in a family that spent vacations car camping each summer and hiked every weekend, so naturally I developed a great love of being outside in nature. At age 19 during summer break, I signed up to work with the Volunteer Conservation Corps to do trail maintenance on the High Country Pathway in Pigeon River State Forest, Michigan. Another young woman in the group, Ann Vonnegut (yes, her Uncle was Kurt) regaled the group with stories about her Appalachian Trail thru hike attempt the previous year and her adventurous tales and enthusiasm deeply resonated with me, sparking a desire to hike the trail too. Unfortunately, I lost touch with Ann and I didn’t do any more backpacking except for one failed attempt with my family in the 90’s. Fast forward 40 years and my dream was pushed to the background and I just figured the opportunity had passed and I was probably too old anyway. After moving to the SC mountains in 2013 and successfully section hiking the 77 miles long Foothills Trail and nearby AT sections I started to think maybe I was wrong. I could do this! My hike on the Appalachian Trail was transformative and created a desire to cram as much traveling and adventure into my remaining years on this beautiful planet as my body will allow! Thank you for following my adventures on the trail and hope it inspires you to get outside and put one foot in front of the other. Never give up on your dreams!
Happy Trails!
Nemophilist Hikes 