JeanMarie Gossard presents Fear, Bliss and Breaking Trail: One Woman’s Journey;
Join in as JeanMarie Gossard shares tales from the 12,000+ miles of long-distance trails she’s hiked in the last few years, including her yearlong walk where she set out to hike as much of the Pacific Crest and Continental Divide Trail as she could in one of the highest snowfall years on record. From surprise animal encounters to cutting steps in 13,000 ft passes, her stories are full of light-hearted realizations, heartfelt truths and the power of fear, bliss and breaking our own trail to show us who we are and what we’re capable of.
Bio
JeanMarie Gossard, trail name ‘PS’ or ‘Pooter Scooter’, is a long-distance hiker, poet and activist. After a career as a community organizer in LGBTQ+ campaigns, she fell in love with thru-hiking on the Appalachian Trail as a way to re-center, recover from burnout and pour some creativity out into the world. She’s been carried away ever since.
Since 2015, she’s completed 9 thru-hikes and logged over 12,000 miles on 10 long distance trails including the Long Trail ’15, El Camino de Santiago (section) ’16, Appalachian Trail ’17, Pinhoti Trail ’17, Arizona Trail ’18, New England Trail ’18, Pacific Crest Trail ’19, Continental Divide Trail (3/4ths) ’19, Florida Trail ’20, and Hayduke Trail ’20.
She believes long distance trails and the communities that make them possible, are places for connection, healing and hope. In the off season she is a wildland firefighter on an Alaskan hotshot crew. Her dream is to walk, write, share stories and inspire women and folks of all genders to discover what they’re capable of.