Date: 2015-08-30
From: East B Hill Road, Andover

To: Old Rag Mountain
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Airlock took a zero day yesterday and I'll be leaving for Maine next Sunday so I thought it was a good time for another guest post.The end of summer always has a certain wistfulness to me. I grew up in Houston, where the seasons are somewhat non-existent, but here in the mid-Atlantic states the Labor Day weekend marks a distinct change. When I first moved to this area in 1993 I lived in an apartment for a couple of years that overlooked a swimming pool. On Labor Day weekend I would sit on my balcony and watch as the maintenance crews removed all the deck chairs to be stowed for the winter and drained the water from the pool and it seemed like they were putting summer away. The days are noticeably shorter now, the school buses are back on the roads in the morning, and the nights are often cool enough to sleep with the windows open and the air conditioning off. As Airlock's thru-hike begins to draw to a close, it seems fitting that it coincides with the end of summer.I never wear headphones when I go out for a run or hike--to me, part of the challenge is to learn to deal with long periods without mental stimulus. I like having time to reflect and turn things over in my mind. While I was out yesterday on a prep hike up Old Rag mountain, I spent some time thinking about the last five months while Airlock has been gone. Even in an ordinary year, I don't have very much in the way of daily responsibilities like many people have. We don't have kids, pets, or any of the other usual things that tend to absorb people's free time. There is a predictable rhythm to our normal life--go to work, go for a run, cook dinner, and then relax for a few hours before going to bed. But this year I decided to take a break from pretty much everything. My normal responsibilities include grocery shopping and cooking, but I've taken a hiatus from that and have been eating nearly every meal out.   Dishes are mostly coffee cups and pint glasses. Laundry is an exercise in avoiding wrinkling--not sorting, folding, and putting away. Our lawn isn't visible from the road so I've only mowed the grass when it was strictly necessary. This week I have a lot to do to catch up. My hope is that with a return to routine comes a renewed energy--that I find new pleasure in things that had started to feel like chores. I had to step up my running mileage to avoid gaining weight from all the restaurant food, and I have to say, I am looking forward to getting back to food that has less salt. I am the kind of person who enjoys a little solitude each day, but the last five months have been a little bit of an overload in that respect. I work in software development, so my work days are mostly spent with just me and a computer screen. We live in a rural, wooded area where no other houses are visible from ours. It is a beautiful, peaceful place to live, but it can be isolating. There are often stretches of days or weeks where I've had no meaningful conversation. Most evenings, after I've gone for a run I head out to one of the local restaurants I've been rotating through. I take a stack of crossword puzzles or a newspaper and have dinner at the bar. It's just a way of being out and seeing some faces--and once in a while I end up chatting with someone. I've looked at it as an exercise in introspection, and welcomed it, but I'm looking forward to a return to normalcy.Over the last few months I've been physically preparing for my section hike. I've been a daily runner for the last 20 years so I stay pretty fit, but every time I go out for a day hike I'm reminded that hiking uses a different set of muscles from running. I've started to incorporate some hiking into my weekly routine. We are fortunate to live less than two miles from Hemlock Overlook, which is a wooded park on the Occoquan River. I came up with a 9 mile course that includes a few good climbs that I've been doing a few days each week with my pack. And then yesterday I hiked Old Rag, which is the best day hike in our area in my opinion.Normally, I wouldn't consider hiking Old Rag on a weekend--it's too popular and crowded. Airlock and I have a 15 year tradition of hiking it on Thanksgiving, and we most recently hiked it when she was preparing for her thru-hike when snow was still on the ground. Since I was hiking solo, I knew I could get an early start and avoid the crowds. I hit the road at 5:30am and was at the trail head at 7am--there were only a few cars in the parking lot and when I got to the summit I was the only one there.Old Rag is a 9-mile circuit hike that starts with a sustained climb up switchbacks to a semi-technical rock scramble. The rock scramble was pretty challenging with a full pack. By the time I got to the top I was a sweaty mess. I don't have all my gear yet so I stuffed my pack with my sleeping bag, hammock and tarp, and then a bunch of other things, including two Harry Potter books, to add weight. I also rolled up a Coke in a towel with a ziplock bag full of ice, which was the smartest idea I've had in a while. The return from the summit is a long, easy walk down a fire road. Judging by how my legs feel today, I think my 9 mile weekday hikes have been doing their job. I was back at my car by 10:30am and home in time for lunch.I'm planning to leave for Monson next Sunday--hopefully I'll beat the holiday traffic. I plan to take a couple of days to drive up there, and depending on where Airlock is at that point, I may meet up with her earlier than scheduled or I might find someplace to hang out and eat lobster rolls for a couple of days. I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to leave comments after my last post. I really appreciated the advice and encouragement. I've tried the hammock out in the backyard a few times and it seems like I can get comfortable. I haven't managed to spend a whole night in it, but that's mostly because when I know my comfortable bed is right there I have trouble not thinking about it. I plan to take some Benadryl and my Kindle so that I can read for a while when I go to bed--I figure eventually I'll be exhausted enough that I'll sleep.--Sasquatch