Notes from the Trail

Connection is Essential

This post is a personal reflection from MSTPF staff Heather Fernstrom on a backpacking trip with Revel Treks + Tours from Fall 2024.

Earlier this year, when the mountains were just beginning to transition into fall, I joined a group of hikers on a three-day backpacking trip through the Talkeetna Mountains, on land stewarded by the Dena’ina and Ahtna for thousands of years. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I would take away from the trip…I was going into the backcountry to get up and close with the alpine flora and fauna…you know, observe some wildlife and admire the tundra plants and rocky peaks, and also challenge myself physically. 

What I discovered along the way was quite a bit more than that. 

What lingers in my mind most strongly is the connections I made with the other participants on the trip. Through conversations on the hike, we realized that all of us were local Mat-Su residents.  Finding out these strong, kind, incredible people lived just down the street from me was such a warm feeling, and sharing this experience with them felt like a great big hug from my community. 

We hiked over boulder fields together, alerting one another to hazardous, or ideal foot placements…we took turns serving as bear lookouts while another one of us did our ‘nature calls’ business…we pointed out signs of wildlife like rock ptarmigan scat and the call of a pika. I felt nurtured, and cared for. We were in this together and I felt connection above all else. Through this shared experience, both the highs and the lows felt more…..well, profound.

I certainly won’t forget the morning we were awoken by a flock of rock ptarmigan. Hearing them rustle about and call out to each other was so special. It was so different from any other morning – it put a grin on my face, despite it being very early and my extreme lack of sleep.  Or the time when we rested against the biggest erratic I’ve ever encountered…I felt so small, but very much connected to something bigger….I felt connected to the earth, and to my fellow hikers.

At the close of the trip, exhausted but at the same time buzzing with the excitement of having made it back to the trailhead, and all that we had overcome, we tried to capture the experience in one word. One word from one my fellow hikers stands out….necessary. I couldn’t agree more. This shared experience was exactly what I needed. 

Feeling connection to the earth, and to others is essential. 

In my work with Mat-Su Trails and Parks Foundation, a position I’ve had for over six months now, I have gotten to know so many groups and individuals in our Mat-Su communities who devote countless time and energy to helping nurture these necessary connections, to nature, to each other, to ourselves.  I look forward to the great things we can accomplish together in the years ahead. Here’s to a new year with new possibilities!

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