Date: 2007-01-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Shortly after the fall of the Taliban, the young scholar and adventurer, Rory Stewart, hiked across the length of Afghanistan in search of a little history, sociology, and self reflection. Referring to writing letters home during his journey, he said, ¢I was more of a tramp than a mystic, but as I wrote I felt at peace. I described to my parents the moments on the way that seemed to have a deep, unified relation to my past. I wondered if walking was not a form of dancing.¢ Stewart saw value in sharing his journey with others and the way companionship, whether in body or spirit, made an experience more powerful. I hiked this past weekend with Llama Punch (amazing name ¢ ask her to tell you how she got it if you see her on the trail) and the bearded wonder boys, Hungus and Tribes. We did a section from Carvers Gap to NJ 284 and, oh-my-brrrrr-goodness, the weather instruments at the High Point ranger station registered -17 degrees with wind chill at one point while we were there for lunch (I watched the station¢s thermometer intently, reacting with a ridiculous lottery-winning joy every time it dipped well below zero). We night hiked, did an 18 mile day, and had one of the most fun weekends of all times. How was the frozen snot made so sweet, you ask? It was the amazing company I kept. The four of us make up one of the most fearsome gangs of hiker trash you will ever encounter. We put cake icing on cured meat, did shots of whiskey, and hung with the donkeys¢¦all in a day¢s hike.   I¢m almost ashamed that I haven¢t mentioned my hiking partner, Lala, before this. Lala and I went to college together and have known each other for close to ten years. He¢s like a member of my family and has a heart so good and pure that songbirds alight on his outstretched hands (yup, I stole that song bird bit from a book). Lala has always been around to hook me up with pet sitting, car rides, and cold ones ¢ he¢s one of the few friends I could hike with for months on end without getting sick of, becoming bitter towards, or killing in his sleep. He¢s also capable of being pretty trashy (note that the trashy aspect has become a key theme for me here), knows how to rock the flip flops, and is the unofficial ¢King of Key West¢. The man is calm. So calm he can make a sloth look frantic. This will be valuable for those times when I go into a high pitched Chihuahua mode and frantically obsess over dumb stuff. You see, Lala knows that most stuff is dumb. He had that figured out a long time ago¢¦kid¢s got his priorities together and he¢s been my emotional anchor for some time now. Anyways, we¢re super psyched to hike (well, I¢m excited and he¢s mostly calm). I¢d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to my transcriber, Hunter Squires, who has generously agreed to translate my chicken scratch into legible text. Thank you, thank you, thank you Hunter! And while I¢m at it, I¢m grateful for all of the support I¢ve received from friends and co-workers (a special thank-you to Hwai-Min for being a pillar of strength and a provider of storage space) and folks in the trail community, including TJ readers who have posted kind words in my guestbook. I hope to run into many of you on the trail¢¦and for those who will be staying at home and worrying about my welfare, I repeat the words of Alexandra David-Neel, ¢¢¦don¢t worry, things will go well. It¢s just a long walk, that¢s all.¢