1 week to go!!

This is the evening before my 64th birthday, exactly 7 days before I begin the next stage in my Appalachian Trail adventure.

It’s a totally different story than 6 years ago when I was preparing for my 1st encounter with the AT. Then I was finishing my work at The Mathworks, with so much to do before I could leave. And then there was the hike itself, too large to imagine.

Now I’m feeling the nerves I get whenever I travel, but there’s a spaciousness where my overwhelm was the last time.

Of course, the main reason for that feeling of spaciousness is that I’m no longer planning on completing anything. I simply plan on putting one foot in front of the next. That’s all. No deadlines or even short term goals.

I just want to be back on the trail. I just have a vague sense that the miles could add up eventually to having walked from one end to the other, god willing and the creek don’t rise, and if this aging body cooperates.

Some years ago, my brother, Tim, and I went with my father, Harry, up to AMC’s Highland Lodge in Crawford Notch to spend a few days kicking around the White Mountains. I’ll recount someday some our family history with the area, but on this particular trip we wanted to hike up to the Mt. Willard ledges that look over Crawford Notch. It’s a short hike with the usual roots and rocks. Somewhere maybe a third of the way up, it became clear that my Dad was having trouble with the climb, and we decided to return to the lodge. That’s when we realized that Dad was really struggling, and we needed to slow even more, taking it very carefully.

Of course, we eventually made it down and back to the lodge, but it was clear we wouldn’t be doing any more of those hikes with my Dad. The rest of the trip was a lot of fun, but it was bittersweet, as well, knowing we’d crossed a threshold.

It was my Dad that taught me to love the mountains and the trails that give us access to them. He’s passed now, although he was with us when I was on the trail in 2017. And he’ll be with me in spirit this time.

Blessings, all!