About the Author: Laurie Freeman is a naturalist, environmentalist and soon-to-be retiree. She earned a BE in mechanical engineering and a MA in biology (ecology, evolution and behavior). Laurie spent the majority of her career as a professor of biology and environmental science at a small upstate NY community college. She and her husband Jim built their home (and homestead) using local material and human powered tools, and she continues to practice self-reliance by gardening and beekeeping. Laurie teaches yoga and runs a small herbal medicinal practice in her community. How she finds time to hike is a mystery. You can follow her AT thru hike on trailjournals, instagram @lauriefreeman and twitter @LaurieJFreeman.
Body, Mind and Spirit
I was recently listening to the podcast Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, in which Steve (aka Mighty Blue) interviewed a thru hiker (and I can’t for the life of me remember which interview it was) who stated that the first third of the trail was about the body, the second third was about the mind and the last third was about the spirit. I’ve been contemplating those three components of a thru hike a lot lately and, upon sitting down to write out why I’m attempting a thru hike, I find this framework an interesting way to organize my thoughts about why I’m hiking.

Adirondack High Peaks are a physical challenge
The Physical Challenge
A little over a year ago I went for my not-so-annual physical. After this 2nd round of the over-50 panel of tests, I was told I was losing bone mass. This came as a complete and utter shocker to me. I considered myself to be in pretty good physical condition. For as long as I can remember I’ve had to be mindful of my body. I was diagnosed with a slight spina bifida as a young teen, the pain of which has been kept under control by maintaining my core strength. In addition I had spent years building our homestead with my husband. This included moving my portion of 200 tons of stone, sand and gravel that comprise the foundation. It included digging my half of the foundation by hand and moving all that earth to other places via wheelbarrow. It included riding the bike for 2200 batches of bicycle-powered cement mixing. It included hauling wood and timbers out of the woods using human-power. It included hours in the garden carrying buckets of dirt, water, produce, etc. It included beekeeping and lifting heavy supers full of honey. How could my weight-bearing life style have come to this? Well, actually, it came to more than bone loss, like many other aging bodies, I also have degeneration in my sacroiliac (SI) joint and lumbar spine and a weak disc. In short, I’ve come face to face with mortality. As a result, I started taking calcium and vitamin D and I started thinking about what I wanted the remainder of my life to look like.

My husband Jim, my stepfather Matt and I haul a timber out of the woods
The Mental Challenge
I am so type A. There’s no getting around it. I’m also achievement oriented. The AT is a mental challenge I can sink my teeth into. That said, I want to tackle this mental challenge at the same time that I let go of my proclivity for planning everything. I want the trail to unfold in an organic way that I can respond to on a day to day basis. I want to use the AT as an extended meditative practice that has the possibility to restructure how I approach the world. A sustained meditation practice decreases reactivity to stress and rewires the brain. I’m hoping I can clear up the “have to” mentality that clutters up my mind now and reset my stress-o-meter.

Me on a hike to Alpine Peak in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho

Contemplating what’s out there in the Adirondack High Peaks
The Spiritual Challenge
I want to uncover who I am on the trail. I love being immersed in nature but I have not had the opportunity to do that for the kind of extended time it will take to walk nearly 2200 miles. Precisely because I’ll be walking, I’ll have to strip my life down to bare essentials; to simplify. Though I will be materially thin, the AT will allow me to be socially fat. I will be surrounded by others who also thrive on living simply in the wild. I’ll become part of that culture and make friends with people who share similar interests.To structure this spiritual journey, I plan to use time on the trail to contemplate the yamas and niyamas; the yogic ethical principles that guide a practitioner to right relationship with the self and with others. I want to internalize these principles and apply them to my life.
In short, I am hiking the AT to transition from retirement to something else in a thoughtful manner. I’m hiking to achieve something I always thought was unattainable. My friend Juice uses the phrase ‘adventure before dementia!’ I want an adventure of body, mind and spirit… and I want bragging rights to say ‘I did it’! Perhaps my hike will inspire others to follow their dream.
If any of this resonates with you or you have other reasons to thru hike leave me a comment below.
lAURIE, We are SO excited for you and your adventure. We will follow you and are excited for updates aout the hows and whys and whatfors too! 🙂 Loved reading about the WHY for you. YOur self reflection is admirable. Know we are with you in spirit!
Thanks!
Thanks for the run down on the ‘why’.
I think that as someone who subscribes to drawing energy and sanctuary from the natural world, your end state is something that I struggle with every day. What does personal balance look like? How do we get to that next level of self satisfaction and awareness outside of what we have prescribed to in our every day world?
I am really interested to see how physical, psychological and spiritual paths play throughout your hike. You are, for sure, one of the strongest people I know., but you will not be the same after 2200 miles… honestly, I am a little jealous about your extended alone time😉.
A wise man told me that silence feeds the body and fuels creativity. I can’t wait to see how your journey unfolds!
Thank you for sharing❤️!!
I have to admit… this adventure is daunting. I’ll try hard to capture the essence of it as I go. …and hope to have you along on part of it!
This is great Laurie! You are inspiring me already. I’m excited to follow your thru hike! Good luck with the prep.
You really should write a book about your journey. I am so excited for you and look forward to every post!
About that book…you never know…
Thanks!
I’m looking forward to reading your reports of “life on the AT.” I always wanted to hike the entire trail, but life intervened in various ways so my current goal is to hike the trail in sections in Connecticut (where I live) and Massachusetts. Experiencing a hike vicariously by reading trip reports can be rewarding, too, especially when the hiker has an interesting background as you do.
Section hiking is an awesome way to do the trail! Maybe I’ll see you out there.
Thanks for reading!