Columbia Falls woman preps for second Appalachian Trail trek

Shayla Paradeis was at a breaking point.

Exhausted and burdened with guilt for leaving her partner and pet behind, she questioned whether she'd make it much further past the 1,400 mile mark on her thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT).

She’d come so far, but had 800 grueling miles ahead of her.

Before Paradeis could throw in the towel just yet, she came across a cooler with a sign on it that read: “Feeling down? Want a warm shower and a nice meal? Call us.”

So she did.

And it wasn't long before a nice, local couple picked up Paradeis and her two trail buddies for a little respite from the trail.

“It made all the difference in the world,” she recalled. “I really left in a completely different mindset.”

The cooler sign and ensuing kindness is what AT hikers call trail magic, courtesy of Good Samaritans known as "trail angels."

“Sometimes people sit trailside in a lawn chair with treats for you, or a grill to make you burgers or a foot soak — they'll have little tubs with Epsom salts … It's unbelievable,” she said. “It’s a whole different America than what you hear about and what you know. The faith it gives you in humanity is really the gold of the Appalachian Trail.”

It's part of the reason why Paradeis is setting out to tackle the 2,190-mile journey for a second time. A naturalist by trade, the Columbia Falls resident took up hiking after college, fleeing the world of musical theater for the rugged wilderness of Montana. She spent her first summer working at Lake McDonald Lodge and logged 500 miles in her off-time. The next year, it was over 900. And once she discovered that thru-hiking — and specifically the Appalachian Trail existed — she knew she had to conquer it.

“Having dropped out of theater was harder on my psyche than I thought it was and I think part of me felt like I had to prove like I was still somebody,” Paradeis said of her inaugural journey back in 2011. She completed the AT, which runs from Georgia’s Springer Mountain to Mount Katahdin in Maine in exactly four months and four days averaging 22 miles with a 35-pound pack to boot. By comparison, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, it takes most hikers between five and seven months to finish the AT.

WHILE PARADEIS was on a mission during that first hike, there were many quiet moments of solace and joy along the trail. She craved mornings where she’d pack up and get an early start, often walking for hours before stopping for a leisurely breakfast with the woods and birds for company.

“That’s when life is sweet — feet up on a rock, roasting coffee,” she said, smiling at the thought.

The pendulum swung in the opposite direction too.

Nature delivered an unrelenting assault of the elements — wind, hail and rain.

But she grew stronger with every step and every storm.

“You change. You adapt. You turn into something else. And all of these things that you thought were going to be hard end up not being an issue,” she said.

Paradeis developed hiking legs that could go for miles upon miles without tiring.

And the weather that was first a nemesis became background noise.

“I looked around and realized I was comfortable,” she said of a stormy day. “Sure the winds are whipping, sure the trees are swaying back and forth, and there’s hail every now and then, but I feel at home.”

But she wasn’t alone in this wild home. There were other residents, too, and some of them had large teeth and claws.

One day while hiking through Massachusetts, Paradeis was trudging along in the rain, her mood soured by the dreary weather. She came upon a long puddle and stomped in it, creating a large splash.

A second splash came, but it wasn't from Paradeis.

“I looked up from my foot and a bear on the other side looked up from its foot and we both ran away,” she recalled with a laugh.

Turns out, they’d given each other quite the surprise.

After a second glance, both parties continued on their way.

The exchange is her favorite bear encounter to date.

Other highlights include a surprise visit from her mom at the top of Mount Washington and how, at the start of her journey, she earned the trail name, "Kiddo." Thru-hikers on the AT are given names that signify personal quirks or events on-trail that they carry with them for the rest of their journey. Paradeis took on the moniker Kiddo after an older gentleman remarked on her age while she giggled reading a map and wearing pigtails.

It's a name that she uses on-trail and in her blog, www.atkiddo.com. She’ll be sharing snippets of her second trek along the AT, which begins poetically on Earth Day, April 22.

Paradeis plans not to rush it this time.

To appreciate the beauty in the difficult terrain, even when it tests her.

To soak up the forest and the lessons it’s trying to teach her.

“They're the oldest mountains in the world,” she said. “I feel like there's wisdom there and I sure wasn't listening when I was 24. My hope is to be really present. Now that I’m a naturalist, I know what a healthy forest is and I know how special that is. I hope I can take that in.”

Follow Shayla “Kiddo” Paradeis’ journey on the Appalachian Trail on her blog, www.atkiddo.com. Her 2,100-mile hike begins April 22.

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com