Date: 2006-04-12
To: Finding What I Wasn't Looking For
Miles today: 0.0

My hike of the Appalachian Trail unfolded over the next few months of 2005. During that time I climbed mountains, struggled over stiles, waded in streams, sang beside campfires and drank countless milkshakes in town. I made new friends (with names like Gypsy, Domino, Jake Brake, Low Gear, Cuppa Joe and Hazy Sonic), discovered strengths I hadn¢t known I possessed and pushed myself further than seemed possible. Each state line was reason for celebration; each psychological milestone was commemorated in some way (N.O.C., Fontana Dam, Damascus, Harper¢s Ferry, the 12 way point). I was even more blessed in this experience than other hikers because I got the opportunity to share this experience. On the first day I met Souleman and Jax, a couple of guy friends who were hiking together. We quickly became a threesome and shared many wonderful trail moments. We were snowed in at Fontana Dam together, played baseball in the woods, survived the early bear-bagging incidents and shared many enlightening conversations along the early miles of the trail.   My short legs had trouble keeping up with two guys over six feet tall. I rarely attempted to match pace with them and instead counted on them to save me a space in-between them in the shelters. I knew I had to keep my pace reasonable and my mileage manageable if I wanted to make it to Maine alive. Occasionally one or both would slow to my crawling pace for a day. Souleman claimed to enjoy slowing to my pace because it allowed him to see more along the way instead of racing from point A to point B. Jax however seemed to have a really strong magnet pulling him quickly north. He soon left us in his dust (pun intended) but we followed him north and were able to keep up with his hike by reading his registry entries.   Getting to know another person romantically while in the midst of such an intense physical and psychological endeavor was both thrilling and exhausting. While we ticked off the mileage each day we had the opportunity to learn more about each other. Our conversations covered everything from family and friends to politics and religion. We learned, explored, argued and debated. This was a very unnatural dating environment. We were thrown into a 24 hours a day 7 days a week dating experience. If dating were a sport, this would qualify as extreme dating. We knew each other very well very quickly and those who met us were often surprised to learn we had met on the trail. Together we took pictures of some incredible sights --the largest tree on the trail, McAffee Knob, Dragon¢s Tooth, a bear cub and the Stairway to Heaven. We encouraged each other up mountains with switchbacks, impossibly steep climbs and handholds -- Springer, Albert Mountain, Clingman¢s Dome and Roan Mountain. State parks such as Shenandoah and the Smokey¢s offered us excuses to slow down and enjoy the wildlife. Our emotions ran the gamut between despair and elation -- sweat, tears, laughter, pain, and joy. But mostly we had fun. While Souleman and I share a passion for hiking, our personalities are polar opposites in many ways. This is probably a good thing because the world certainly doesn¢t need two of me. I am high-strung, high-maintenance, and obsessively organized. I can¢t sit still, I get worked-up easily, am a stickler for the rules and cannot stand it when things are not ¢fair.¢ Souleman on the other hand is about as calm as a person can be. He is never stressed, never worked-up and can lighten any situation. He likes to bend the rules and loves to relax. For him hiking was an extension of his daily life. He worked outside and had hitchhiked before, traveled across the country and been away from home. For me, this was a break from the ¢real world¢ where I measured a day¢s success by how many things I checked off my to-do list. Here I made a point to not have a list. Instead I tried to be content enjoying my surroundings. I breathed in the fresh air perfumed with leaves, mud, sweat and fire smoke. I enjoyed lazy lunches on rocks warmed by the sun. I listened to raindrops on my tent fly, owls in the trees, and logs crackling on the fire. Rather than see how many things I could accomplish I made it a point to do as little ¢work¢ as possible. Instead I focused on enjoying being in nature and enjoying the company I had so luckily found.As we hiked we sang (much to the chagrin of anyone who could hear our tune-less renditions), whistled or embraced the quiet sounds of the woods. I marveled at the sounds of nature and allowed my ears to rejoice at the lack of car horns, TV static and thumping and bumping music that penetrates daily life in the ¢real world.¢ Hiking was everything I had hoped for and more. I went out into the woods hoping to discover me. I hadn¢t even dreamed of finding someone to share me with. But as the saying goes, sometimes you have to stop looking for something to find it.