Spring Cleansing Workshop! Early Bird

Spring is a time of blossoming, cultivation, and transformation. We’re naturally drawn to detoxify our environment, our bodies, and our spirits during these months to make room for newness and change.

Join The Wander Trees for a gathering on Saturday, April 2, to learn holistic tools for cleansing body, mind, spirit, and space this spring.

Led by Graham Wesley, yoga teacher and herbalist of Root Deep Medicine, we’ll discuss practices such as; digestive cleansing, intentional breathing, and daily rituals that will help you welcome the bright and fresh of the changing season into your everyday living.

Address: 842 Haywood Rd. Asheville, NC

Date: April 2 10:30AM-12:30PM

*$30 Early bird discount March 7-21, Regular price $35

Cabin Fever - Winter Retreat in the Woods

There's something so intimate and magical about living in harmony with your surroundings. Ever since I was little kid, I've always dreamed of a having a secret garden, and a tree-house only I could find through narrow dirt paths hidden in the woods. Now as a big kid, I am still in awe of off the grid homes, handmade tree-houses, and cozy cabins capturing the magic that is in our own backyards.  We've rounded up our favorite Airbnb, woodsy, cabin retreats! These handmade homes are the perfect retreat for the stargazers, bird watchers, nature lovers, and the big kid in all of us.

The Majestic Muir Woods

This weekend we explored the old and wise forests of the coastal redwoods. These giant Sequoia sempervirens are not only the tallest trees on earth but the majority are 500-800 years old! It was an out of body experience to immerse in them.

To stare up into the sky as far as you can see, and feel towered by life, shelter, and wisdom. It's both humbling and comforting as it puts everything in perspective. Feeling small, reminds us just how grand the world is around us and just how eye opening a walk with nature is.

20% Off for you and your trail mate!

Share your love for wilderness, adventure and art with someone awesome! We're doing 20% off the marketplace so you can treat yourself and ones you love with art created for adventurers by adventurers.

Use code: TRAILMATE offer expires Feb. 13, 2016

Support your community of creatives while giving back to Mountain Maid and Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

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The Thru Project

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We are thrilled to announce that The Thru Project book created by Joshua Niven is now available for purchase through our marketplace! 

Founding Member of The Wander Trees, Joshua Niven dreamed of creating a unique conceptual photography book since the day he set foot on the Appalachian Trail. Like many of us, the mountains were calling him and he couldn't ignore them. Despite the many challenges he knew he would encounter, the art was bigger and more important. His creative journey from start to finish stands as inspiration to fellow trailblazers of life. There will be obstacles to overcome, especially if you are attempting to do something different. Don't let it defeat you. Keep your dream alive, create space for possibility and hike towards it! 

Read about Joshua's journey below. 

Written by Joshua Niven.

On March 5th 2013, I embarked on a northbound journey with a few buddies to accomplish my dream of turning a 2,185 mile thru-hike into a photographic book titled: The Thru Project.

It seemed attainable. I had two missions: hike the entirety of the AT while simultaneously capturing the essence of the hike and my surroundings through the lens of my camera.

I thought it would just be hard work, wake up, walk, capture, repeat- I was mistaken. Internal struggles, identity crisis, people, relationships, money, and other unexpected elements would re-direct my hike, my mind and my images. The assumptions of such a journey are endless and our individual experiences so unique. Like many thru hikers, my journey across The Appalachian Trail was life altering and provided me with lessons that I could have never predicated.

Three years in the making- The Thru Project is finally complete! 

The Journey Beyond the Book 

Over the course of our hike, The Thru Project was met with an array of challenges. The physical and mental intensity of our hike proved to be everything I thought it would be and so much more.

Along the way, aspects of the trail that we were not aware of started revealing themselves. The adage that “the trail provides” turned into a very visceral reality. Synchronicity and un-explainable happenings brought forth the realization that the trail itself had taken over; it revealed itself as a living thriving organism. This organism directed our work, our experience, and our relationships with each other and the people we met along the way.

Unforeseen occurrences turned our unique journey into more of a challenge than ever imagined, and in the end these challenges would shape The Thru Project.

 

The Appalachian Trail is an amazing place that brings people to the woods, giving hikers an opportunity to become mentally and physically awake. Every thru hiker brings with them a unique desire to attempt to do something life changing.

The journey across this mountain range builds character, re-defines people, and reveals things that you never knew about yourself.  Walking becomes a forced form of meditation. With nothing but time to think, the brain will take you to the end of the world and back on a regular basis. Walking forces the brain to go within and reveal the best and worst of you. A thru hike is a unique opportunity to learn and grow from this newfound knowledge.

Within all the magic of the AT are the difficulties and challenges that go along with such an adventure. The difficulties and magic come together to create a one of a kind experience. It is an experience that words have a hard time defining. The trail changes every person who steps foot on it.

In the end, the experience of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail was an awakening adventure. Intense, beautiful and awe-inspiring, the people who encompass the AT are the glue that hold it together. Without the trail angels, hiking families, and people you meet along the way the trail would not be what it is. This is why the Appalachian Trail has been appropriately nicknamed “The People's Trail”.

- Joshua

Video by Jared Aaron Sims.

Check out some of our favorite prints from The Thru Project Book! 

Take some advice from a tree.

Happy New Year! 

First day of 2016. How are you going to embrace the new beginning? If you are a friend of The Wander Trees, then it's probably safe to say that you consider yourself an ambitious dreamer.  Which means that you have a long list of things you want to work towards this year. Road trips to New Mexico, learning wood-working, finishing a book you started 2 years ago, hiking the Appalachian Trail . . . the list goes on. 

As you set out to conquer these new projects, ideas and adventures, remember these words from Ilan Shamir: 

Dear Friend,
Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter
Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night.
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light
Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!
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