Jennifer Pharr-Davis Finds the TRAIL

Find the TRAIL in YOU! 

 Jennifer Pharr Davis tells her audiences that she felt the Appalachian Trail called her.  I wonder.  Was it the Trail or was it the Spirit calling her to find the trail of life, beginning with a new maturity of coming to terms with herself. 

Let's be clear--nothing I say should even remotely detract from her remarkable, "wonder-woman" accomplishments as a hiker. This woman is to hikers what Cal Ripken, Jr is for consecutive games--endless perseverance. Soon after college graduation, she "felt called" to the  Appalachian Trail.”  (the “AT”)  By the time she finished about 4 months later, a book was in the offing called Becoming Odyssa.  

Keep in mind who she  "becomes;" record holder for completing the AT in shortest time and now an accomplished global hiker of more than 11K miles.   Interested in her book(s)?  You can find it online or go to www.blueridgebackpaking.com and get to know her more personally through interviews (or just google “Jennifer Pharr Davis”). 

Here's the bottom line.  The AT  represented her inner "trail to maturity"  as a young adult.  All the naivete of the tenderfoot hiker is there--so if begin by knowing who she "becomes," that makes the initial challenges ironical and amazing. Not knowing how to stake a tent?  Fear of sleeping in a tent? Blacksnakes with fangs?   (There's hope for me who can't hike to get the newspaper!) And the tender adolescent moments when she steps out of narration to address the audience like a sidebar. You feel her blush at using the word "menstruation," instead of my period made the day difficult; or, "You see, I sorta liked the guy," instead of just saying..."Despite the hike, I realized I liked the guy."  There was a lot of growing up here!  In that respect, yes...she did grow up as she stripped off the clothes and dove into crystal clear water at the base of Mt. Kathadan, a baptism of a new life. 

But this is far more than a post-grad coming of age book.She begins to find the Trail in her--a Way of life in her that will later blossom into her vocation as a hiker. Her awakening comes when speed-runner David Horton passes her on the trail.  Later they talk, and the seeds of going for the AT speed/time record are sown, instead of the wild oats of many post grads.  (Notice how he writes an endorsement for this book!)  

She might agree that the meeting with Horton was pivotal.  But I think she would argue that her traumatic encounter with a suicide victim hung in a shelter (of all places!) was really the walk's pivotal point.  Although she carries the baggage of that death with her, later...she is able to reach out for real help from somebody she met along the trail and then by that person's two sons.  Isn't that the mark of real maturity?  The ability to reach out for help and to know who you can trust your life with?  

The illusion of the AT and of life is that we walk alone. The truth is that we do not have to walk the Trail of life alone.  For me, that's what leads to the new baptism in the shadow of God's holy mountain.