Samuel Williams Blog Reflection Connecting Landscapes of the Sacred to the Appalachian Trail

 Blog Reflection Connecting Landscapes of the Sacred to the Appalachian Trail: November 15th, 2022

Throughout the semester, one of the major topics that has been discussed in our class is the Appalachian Trail. We have had many discussions about the significance of the trail with how the trail is both physical and spiritually important. However, I was reading one of the books for the class, Landscapes Of The Sacred, and I found a quote that had a massive connection to our discussions with the Appalachian Trail. The book, written by Belden C. Lane goes into depth about the importance and significance of places that are considered sacred. While reading this book, I found one quote that stood out to me. This quote on page 60 stated, “as if God were inviting me to reconnect to family, to fresh political and ecological responsibilities, to a renewed valuing of quotidian gifts in general. Sacred places do that”. After reading this quote, the first thing that I immediately thought of was the Appalachian Trail. While this quote connected to the trail in so many different ways, there were a few major reasons why this stood out. First, the reconnecting aspect. One of the main reasons why people chose to hike the trail is because they get to reconnect with the beauties of life without stress. Taxes, bills, work, and home stress are all non existent when walking the trail which is why I found that section of the quote to be very accurate. Another one was the factor of political and ecological responsibilities. To state the obvious, the ecological factor is very present as you are on a trail out in the wilderness. However, the political aspect is there too. On the trail, everyone has one goal. The one goal is to finish. No matter who you are, what you do for a living, or how you spend your free time, everyone is united by a common idea out in the wilderness. Politics is not a thing when you are in the middle of nowhere on a trail deep in the woods. Lastly, the element of quotidian gifts. So many aspects of life are relayed when walking out on the trail, and this can be a realization discovered by some walking the trail. In the end, I found the quote to be very insightful and a perfect example of a part of the book that easily represents the Appalachian Trail.