Shay Blackley

here are some items that people consider a necessity when starting out on long treks. There are the basics that everyone knows: Backpack, shelter, sleeping bag. And then there are the necessities that come with actual experience: Peanut M&M's, Gold Bond powder, a little duct tape wrapped around your hiking pole. Then there are the necessities that come from life experiences. For me that necessity would be my good friend “Drift”. Now Drift isn’t what most would consider a typical friend. He has characteristics that are very admirable, like he is an excellent listener and will never back talk to you no matter how long the trail. He is able to perform a range of duties that help in the easy of camp life. But no one is perfect and as close as one might seem to attaining that goal there is always a flaw, Drifts flaw is that he is a wooden canoe paddle.

Well, it all started when I had taken an Outward Bound outdoor instructors course. One the second or third day we were all on the Deschutes River, and on the shore there was a child’s wooden canoe paddle with the word “Hinky” written on it. The orphan paddle was adopted by our group and slowly became our mascot. We would cry out “Hinky!!” whenever something didn’t happen the way it should have. He was carried along for the remainder of the course, including Grade IV rapids and down 200+ foot rappels. At the end of the course I was given the privilege to carry our wooden companion to the top of Mt. Hood, crampons, Ice axe, and full rope team preceding him.

Fast forward a year and I’m starting my Southbound Thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. The Second town I arrive at, I’m wandering around the little store looking for Ice cream I notice a selection of canoe paddles (as most general stores should have). I was struck with nostalgia could not resist the temptation. My good friend Hinky was stuck supporting the Outward Bound staff at the Odin Falls base camp, but this just opened the door for his long lost brother, Drift. At first Drift and I had an abrasive friendship, we would go long hours without talking, and it felt like my new companion just weighed me down. As time went on we discovered who each other really was, and Drift wasn’t just a canoe paddle to me. In the movie “Cast Away”, was Wilson just a volley ball? Or was he something more?

At the end of my first completed thru-hike, Drift was more than a burden I carried, he was inspiration. Always pushing my forward to take that first step. Now we are inseperable, a team that can conquer anything put in front of it.

We are Wander + Drift.