Date: 2010-02-25
To: A Journey of Significance
Miles today: 0.0

I don¢t care how many times I may head out to Springer Mountain ¢ this is my third time, and I don¢t intend for it to be my last ¢ the impending departure brings with it a cascade of emotions. Most of these are of pure joy at the thought of what I know I will experience. Some are nagging, irritating, jabs of reality ¢ the things I know I cannot control ¢ most notably, the injuries that could take me off the trail. I try not to think too much about that. I just have to have confidence that I will not do anything stupid, and then accept that my fate will not be known until it is known. Does that make any sense? What I do know is that the AT Through-hiker can rightfully expect to have a ¢journey of significance¢ ¢ for however long it lasts. Here are just five of the things that will make it significant for me:To live life with ultimate simplicity: each day I will face only two major challenges ¢ surviving in the woods, and moving north. That¢s pretty much it. The corollary is that I will become much more ¢at one¢ with nature, and with the peace that comes from that close encounter of the natural kind. To become part of a very special community: the 2010 AT Through-hikers. I¢ve already ¢met¢ some of them on line, but in just a couple more weeks I¢ll start to meet them in person. The Tenners, as we¢re calling ourselves. I will become a part of that community, and they will become part of me. Some of them will become a very special part of my life going forward. I know that because of people like Break-a-leg, Cuppa Joe, Butterfly Moon, Phoenix, Socks, Mouth, Gypsy Lulu, Touk, Tink and others too numerous to mention from ¢05, and Greaser, Squeegie, Topo, Rapunsel, Doc, Newt, Ms. Scarlet, Half Moon and Sunbeam, Colonel Mustard, Hamock and others too numerous to mention from last year. To get back in touch with my core self: I like my core self so much better than that jerk I can sometime become after long periods of the stress, over-work, frustration, and despair that dogs me in the real world and wears down my soul. I wish I could figure out a way to bottle that core self and drink of it now and again after I get back from my hike. But alas¢¦To get rid of all the extra weight I¢m carrying around at the moment: this is one of the most welcome outcomes of my entire hiking experience. I felt so good, and so good about myself, when I finished my hike in ¢05. I was healthier than I¢d been in decades: skinny (not quite back to my high school weight, but close enough!), great muscle tone, incredible cardio-vascular capacity, the whole package. In fact, after the people, the sheer physical exertion of climbing mountains every day all day is one of the things I like best about the whole trail experience. It is such a luxury to be able to go to the ¢gym¢ for 8-10 hours a day, almost every day for six whole months ¢ which is not something that is possible ¢back in the world¢. The trick will be to find a way to keep it off when I get back. My current plan is to find a personal trainer and begin training for a marathon. I won¢t be able to ¢run¢, with my knee, but I know I can ¢speed walk¢ at five miles an hour, which should be good enough. I¢ll just need to develop the stamina, which should be easier with less weight to carry with me and with the condition I¢ll be in when I finish my hike. To ¢live like I¢m dyin¢¢ ¢ to quote from that country-western tune: I know I will have a certain number of days when I will feel totally, incredibly alive. It will come from facing down the forces of nature, like the gale-force winds and rain that I encountered climbing Mount Madison during the remnants of Hurricane Katrina, the fright that comes from encountering a bear up close and personal on the trail in Virginia, or overcoming my fear of heights in climbing up through the Lambert Cliffs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Those are the memories that stay with you. I don¢t get to experience those things sitting in my cubicle at work¢¦You can see why I¢m so exciting about this journey, and why I can¢t wait for it to start. Only 16 more days!