The Plant and Place Immersion is your path to connection. I am excitedly gearing up for the Plant and Place Immersion this spring! Together we'll dig deep into bioregional herbal medicine, build our knowledge of place, and cultivate relationship with the living world.  The Plant and Place Immersion officially begins the first weekend in May. Our intimate group - limited to 10 - will study herbal medicine through five full weekends of hands-on in-person learning and eight evening virtual sessions. Thoughtful home study will weave together what we learn in-person. Participants form ..read more

  Old Logger's Path signage crafted from an old saw We were slated to head home after the Allegheny Front Trail. I hadn't set out on this wander with any firm intentions of how many miles we would hike or how many loops we would complete. For when I had planned our journey, I had been so busy, so mentally fatigued that I couldn't contemplate detailed itineraries or too many goals. Also, right before we began Amos had developed a skin condition that required a medicated wash and mousse and antibiotics. I didn't know how dealing with this condition while hiking was going to pan ou ..read more

  Amos and I taking shelter from the rain beneath the awning of a hunt camp On my Pennsylvania Wilds Wander I also had time to enjoy some day hikes. This has been one of the luxurious things about having my car along with me on this journey. I've never had such freedom before to just grab a beautiful roadside campsite or leap over to a stretch of trail that called to me on a map. Also, driving rural roads between loops and in further exploring has also provided a glimpse into the culture and beauty of the larger region - the multitude of creative hunt camps from hand-painted dec ..read more

  All smiles heading off on the Allegheny Front Trail As part of my Pennsylvania Wilds Wander, I embarked on a third loop, Allegheny Front Trail (AFT). This approximately forty-mile trail winds through the southern portion of Moshannon State Forest and encircles Black Moshannon State Park. The Allegheny Front is a geological feature, a striking escarpment that travels from southern Pennsylvania into western Virginia and demarks the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and the Appalachian Plateau. I find it difficult to rate trails, for each trail offers its magic, but this loop definit ..read more

  Amos looking out from Dynamite Shelter The Susquehannock Trail System is the longest loop trail in the state of Pennsylvania, totaling in at 85 miles around. It is encompassed within the 265,000-acre Susquehannock State Forest and is comprised of 63 distinct trails, hence why it's called a system. Thanks to two handy connecting trails, I hiked a southern loop of this trail back in 2022 utilizing one of those connectors, the West Branch Trail. You can read about that first journey here: The Botanical Hiker: Hiking the Susquehannock Trail System - A Sweet Surrende ..read more

  Amos crossing the bridge over Red Run The Quehanna Trail is no ordinary trail. It may be located in what some believe to be ordinary woods in the heart of Pennsylvania. But this, too, would be untrue. These forests and meadows are extraordinary and the Quehanna Trail provides one with an opportunity to journey through them at whatever pace one desires. We took our time, completing our eastern loop of roughly 40 miles in 5 days. And what I can tell you is after our roughly 10 days in this wilderness it is a liminal place, a threshold between the mundane and wondrous. This place ..read more

  The Botanical Hiker and Amos Thunderfoot on the Quehanna Trail! A week ago today, I loaded up the car with weeks-worth of food, extra hiking clothes, jugs of water, a selection of books, Amos’ favorite snacks, and of course, my very heavy backpack. This too was loaded to the gills. There may have been times when I approached ultralight, okay maybe light…but those days are gone. This experienced hiker now carries more stuff than ever and I attribute that to Amos. His food bag weighs more than mine with wet food and kibble, plus he’s got his own sleeping bag, nanopuff blanket, ja ..read more

  It's that time again. Time to hit the trail. To plan, prep, pack and after this flurry of anticipation, walk into the unknown. Our long walks have become annual. These, our autumnal pilgrimages, are my opportunity to place both feet firmly on the ground and let the wonder seep in.  This year, given all that it has delivered, I decided to do a twist. Rather than walking end-to-end, from here-to-there, I will walk in circles. That's right. I plan to walk many miles and end up right where I started. This will afford me the ability to plan less, to schedule less, to stop looking forw ..read more

  Enjoying black birch tea at the conclusion of our opening forest bath in the Milford Experimental Forest I spent my spring and summer in the company of a small collective of plant enthusiasts, nature lovers, and aspiring herbalists. Six sweet souls joined me at the school for the Plant and Place Immersion, an herbal medicine program dedicated to cultivating kinship with the natural world. Beginning in early May and finishing at the end of August, we met two full days every four weeks and thread our time together with virtual sessions to keep connected and learning. Our classro ..read more

  Participants in the 2023 Plant and Place Connection Series bundling goldenrod. I am beyond excited announce the launch of the School of Plant and Place Immersion program! This comprehensive program has been a long time in the making. Ever since I attended herbal medicine school back in 2010, I have dreamed of offering a similar program. However, it took many years of further study, hands-on experience wildcrafting, innumerable hours teaching others through walks, workshops, and seminars, and most importantly, slow time with the plants themselves before I felt ready to create a ..read more