Date: 2013-03-09
To: Lone Star Hiking Trail
Miles today: 0.0

Seeing the Forest AND the TreesBefore setting off on the AT, I decided to slip in a visit to Texas to visit family and friends. It¢s been almost a year since the previous visit, so it was time.   This is where my roots are. This is where I spent the first 18 years of my life, on the very same plot of land that the previous 6 generations of my family spent theirs. In fact, they are buried in the cemetery right beside the house, and when the time comes I¢ll probably join them there. So even though I haven¢t lived here in over 15 years, when someone asks where I¢m from, I have no problem giving them a very definitive answer. I¢m from a small community in the middle of the woods, called Evergreen. You can imagine my (very pleasant) surprise to ¢discover¢ a national treasure sitting, literally, on the family doorstep. The national treasure? The Lone Star Hiking Trail. It wasn¢t so much a surprise that it existed, for as long as I can remember, I knew that it existed, but I never took any interest in it. Though my brother and I had explored every nook and cranny in our own woods, it wasn¢t until a few years ago when my sister-in-law (who just happens to be the most awesome and inspiring adventurer to ever grace the planet) inquired about a trailhead that lay not 2 miles from our house. We all just shrugged our shoulders because not one of us had laid foot on it. In fact there were trailheads all over the place as the LSHT crosses several roads as it loops and winds its way through the Sam Houston National Forest. Maybe it was because I wasn¢t into hiking or maybe it¢s because the perceptions that you establish when you are young stick with you long after you grow up. It¢s not so much the actual mileage distances that are intimidating, but the idea of hiking all the way from FM 1725 to FM 945 to HWY 2020 to FM 2666, and so on. That seemed impossible. That seemed crazy. So it never occurred to me to try; that is until Lynde (sister-in-law extraordinaire) was looking for a place to go for a run¢¦When I came home on this visit, I expected to load up the pack and get in a couple of hikes up and down the one section of trail that I had been on. I knew that the trail continued on in one direction, though I had never gone farther. I just assumed that the trailhead nearest from our house was the ¢start.¢ I decided to start my hike from the house, hike 2 miles to the trailhead and continue the 6.6 miles through to the other side. When I got to the trailhead, I examined shiny new laminated map tacked to the trailhead board. I looked closer and closer. Low and behold, the road walk I had just done was officially part of the trail. In fact the LSHT, passes directly in front of our house and continues up the road another mile until it turns back into the national forest. Little did I know I had been traveling up and down the LSHT my entire life. Home, a place that I thought I knew well, still had surprises and treasures in store. In the following week, my mom and I went out and explored many, many of these trails. My dad joined us on occasion, as did my Aunt Elaine and Cousin Kate. I was surprised and humbled by everyone¢s enthusiasm and endurance. I was surprised by the diversity and beauty of the woods I thought I knew so well. I guess you can say that I saw my ¢roots¢ with new eyes. What I thought was going to be mere preparation for the Grand AT Adventure turned out to be a Grand Adventure and Gift in and of itself.   You just never know, do you?