Heart and Sole

Feet tread the good earth and the Spirit soars.
Step out. Discover your path.

PJ Wetzel - Long Distance Hiker, Big Picture thinker, Retired NASA Earth Scientist, Grandpa

PJ Wetzel: Welcome. This site is about traveling the natural way—on foot.

“…the walking of which I speak has nothing in it akin to taking exercise, as it is called, as the sick take medicine at stated hours—as the swinging of dumb-bells or chairs; but is itself the enterprise and adventure of the day."

— Henry David Thoreau

Our compulsion to walk, to seek out new horizons, is the defining characteristic of our species. We are the ape who left the trees to explore the world. Walking upright led to tool use, agriculture, community, and technology. Sadly, with each new step, we are straying further from the sustainable ways of our ancestors.

Walking leaves minimal impact. Today, most of us travel in machines, swarming over the land, not caring. This blog is meant as a reminder, a warning, and a call to return to a way of balanced living that is in harmony with our world.

Although hike-related posts are the majority, there's also a generous sprinkling of what used to be called 'Natural Philosophy'. I'm an obsessive 'Big Picture Thinker.' For me this is just another way of Pathfinding: along the Greatest Path of all!!!