Parameters of the Trek

Basic tenet of life on the trail: “hike your own hike.”

After a few thousand miles I have also learned, intentions shape the experience.
Keeping to a trail requires maps and knowing your objective; I believe the same applies to intentions.

This hike will cover just shy of 120° of latitude, my intention is to cover that distance by non-motorized means.

Primarily my own two feet.
Other methods as prompted.

Vehicles are fair game to access towns and, if need be, could be used to move laterally but, by and large, I am a woman who loves simplicity and having a steadfast mantra of “go North,” works well.

Sole sister Neon hiked the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail all northbound.
We discussed it during a recent rendezvous and were agreed, compasses point north, so do we.

The purpose, as best I can iterate it yet, is to demonstrate what a woman can do, and in so doing, piece together the story of what many women do.

Because we all deserve to be heard, and many are not.
Because gender norms are different in South America.

The perspectives I carry were that of a girl-child growing up in Ecuador and Chile.
What now can I bring, as a woman myself?

Bedtime stories were always a big deal in our family. Growing up in areas of poor education but rich history, we learned that oral traditions keep values alive.
Also, they are awesome.
In fact, one of my favorite parts of a yurt ski trip this winter was reading bedtime stories amidst our whole cabin from a book we found.

As Neon and I travel and language allows, we will learn bedtime stories and share them here.

At a dinner party the other night, asked this of a new friend. I was delighted, watching her face as she reached into her memory bank. Uncertainty, then a smile as she recounted an exercise/story which I can’t recall exactly b/c, well, I didn’t write it down and was already just so excited to begin the process that I didn’t listen very well.
[Glad I am practicing and working kinks out ahead of time!]

It was a pithy, sequential accounting of the physical world. It focused on memory, repetition, and the ever expanding world. My best hope is that she read this and perhaps be willing to share in the comments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, promised myself to get this posted before going backpacking this weekend.
It is now morning of, my backpack is loaded up and waiting patiently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A final note: while I will cover the entire distance myself, there is no way I can pull this trek off without help. If you are interested in being involved, shoot me a message.

Hike on, hikers.