Date: 2008-03-26
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Somewhere Further North
Miles today: 10.0

   Out here there are many people who have gear declaring that, "The journey is the destination." For weeks, this quote has been rolling around in my mind and it was concerning me that as a hiker, I couldn't seem to relate to it like other hikers do. Being the kind of person I am, the fact that I couldn't relate to it as it seemed I should was upsetting me. How can other people who hike the trail, carry the same gear and have similar concerns vibe with the saying so well that they are compelled to buy a shirt declaring it when I can't even begin to relate? The question marinated and during those silent lulls in the day where real thinking takes place I would pull the saying out and try to relate, or at least understand, why other people liked it so well. I put this pressure on myself because subconsciencely I was worried that until I could relate I wasn't a hiker in true form. Out here I am always concerned about proving my worth and determination, how can I integrate into this community if I can't understand simple proverbs about the very lifestyle I am living?    We were hiking into town the other day and in the span of a second the quote made sense to me. I could finally relate and like spontaneous combustion I understood why I hadn't been able to before.    Unless you are out here, plodding along at a 12 mile/day pace, there is no way you can appreciate the fact that this walk is more than climbing mountains and crossing gaps. This trail, because you are forced to appreciate every mile for what it is and because you aren't zipping by in a car watching the land move in a blur, is not about the destination in any sense. I have never had an experience like this, I have never had the chance to really enjoy the travel between point A and B. Everything in my life moves so quickly that I couldn't relate to the saying because I had never had an experience with a real, honest-to-goodness pilgrimage before. Driving in a car from MN to GA was fun but I never felt the 1800 miles like I do when I walk 12. It takes me 6 hours to walk what a car could do in 6 minutes. I came out here with the notion that this trip would be hard and sweaty and frustrating, and I haven't been disappointed, but I never realized that the walk would morph from something so straight-forward into something more elemental and spiritual.    The walk has never been about Katadyn for me and so I don't feel the pressures of achieving a destination by a certain set of standards. The walk IS about the journey and now that I can really appreciate the miles between here and there, the destination doesn't even matter to me anymore. All that matters is how I feel and what I see, beyond that, I will take the miles as they come. So long as I can look back on my trip and say in all honesty that I am proud of what I achieved and enjoyed what I did and saw, I have reached my destination in every sense of the word.--Mary Poppins--Like damn, I'm from Minnesota, land of the cold airToo many mosquitoes and our fair share of egosBut like my man Sabe says, 'that's where my mommy stays'So if the people laugh and giggle when you tell em where you liveAnd if you know this is where you wanna raise your kidsIf you're from the Midwest and it doesn't matter whereIf you can drink tap water and breathe the airSay shhh, say shhh