Going backpacking for the weekend in the snow.
Yep...excited!
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Mt Mitchell and other things
I have not written for awhile, life was getting kind of boring for a moment because of my knee. But I am back to running (albeit slowly) and I was blessed to attend the AORE (Association of Outdoor Recreation Education) conference in Asheville, NC. I not only learned a lot but I was able to sneak away for some time in the mountains. This year will be my 5 year anniversary since hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2003. I felt it was about time to get back out to the Appalachias.
On Monday, after the conference, I took a lone hike up to the tallest mountain this side of the Mississippi, Mt. Mitchell. It was refreshing. My knee was feeling good, the sun was shining, and in the south the fall had just began. I took the time up the mountain to clear my head and body of all the recent stress in my life (finishing up a degree and working a bunch...plus getting sick). As I hiked up the 2,000 ft ascent I realized I miss days like that. Times when the most important thing is getting from point A to point Z and maybe, that you need to eat a few times during the day. I miss the simple life.
It is so easy to get caught up in the tizzy of the day to day grind, that sometimes I forget what really matters...like earth and air and walking. It was funny to me how even at an outdoor adventure conference it is so easy to get pulled into the politics of an "association" but what we all crave is a little simpleness. That is the time when who you are and what you stand for doesn't matter. Not to say that these things are not important but that in life you have to have things stripped down to the core to really appreciate the eccentricity of life. So I did. I sat at the top and enjoyed the view (even though folks can drive up) and I relaxed. I was for a moment at complete peace.
On Monday, after the conference, I took a lone hike up to the tallest mountain this side of the Mississippi, Mt. Mitchell. It was refreshing. My knee was feeling good, the sun was shining, and in the south the fall had just began. I took the time up the mountain to clear my head and body of all the recent stress in my life (finishing up a degree and working a bunch...plus getting sick). As I hiked up the 2,000 ft ascent I realized I miss days like that. Times when the most important thing is getting from point A to point Z and maybe, that you need to eat a few times during the day. I miss the simple life.
It is so easy to get caught up in the tizzy of the day to day grind, that sometimes I forget what really matters...like earth and air and walking. It was funny to me how even at an outdoor adventure conference it is so easy to get pulled into the politics of an "association" but what we all crave is a little simpleness. That is the time when who you are and what you stand for doesn't matter. Not to say that these things are not important but that in life you have to have things stripped down to the core to really appreciate the eccentricity of life. So I did. I sat at the top and enjoyed the view (even though folks can drive up) and I relaxed. I was for a moment at complete peace.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Anxious Patience
Antsy Pants.
Good description for me today. Paul woke me up at 6:30 am with a phone call from the Long Trail. It was the first time I have gotten to speak to him since he left and it made such a difference on how I was handling him being gone. It is almost as if not talking to him would be easier, out of sight-out of mind. Once again I miss Paul, but it is the missed hiking experiences that are really driving me nuts. To me, it is as if I cannot sit here going about "normal" life when I know there are mountains to climb...calling me with their feelings of calm simplicity, all the while I am going about my "norm".
So after class this morning I peddled for 19 mi hoping that some exercise would calm my antsy feeling. Unlikely, getting to see trees and hills just reminded me what I am missing. I am counting down the days until I graduate because this girl is going for a hike, whether two weeks or a month (or two). Slickrock lives, hidden, but she is there.
Good description for me today. Paul woke me up at 6:30 am with a phone call from the Long Trail. It was the first time I have gotten to speak to him since he left and it made such a difference on how I was handling him being gone. It is almost as if not talking to him would be easier, out of sight-out of mind. Once again I miss Paul, but it is the missed hiking experiences that are really driving me nuts. To me, it is as if I cannot sit here going about "normal" life when I know there are mountains to climb...calling me with their feelings of calm simplicity, all the while I am going about my "norm".
So after class this morning I peddled for 19 mi hoping that some exercise would calm my antsy feeling. Unlikely, getting to see trees and hills just reminded me what I am missing. I am counting down the days until I graduate because this girl is going for a hike, whether two weeks or a month (or two). Slickrock lives, hidden, but she is there.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Not Vermont Bound and Jealous
Today Paul left to finish the Long Trail in Vermont. It was a little under a year ago that he slipped on a rock on the same trail -his body fell one direction and his knee turned the other. The prognosis- he ripped the meniscus in his left knee. He came home early, without even calling and his face, it may be the first time I saw his spirit waiver. At the time everything seemed questionable; would he be able to hike again, would his knee allow him to do the things he loved: run, soccer, etc? Amazingly, he had surgery in which they removed his meniscus, he did some rehab, and here he is a year later heading out to conquer the Green Mountains again.
And...
I am freaking jealous. OK, let me back up some.
Most of you know that I hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2003 and I left Paul for 6 months to do so. He was so supportive but he wanted to be a part of it. So he vowed to do a thru hike somewhere. Why not the Long Trail- the first long hiking trail in the US...plus it is in the great state of Vermont. So last year he went without me...I was so ready to drop out for the semester and head up there too. The call of the woods is intense and I crave that tranquility it gives, more often then I let myself think about.
Of course these past two summers have been jammed with school, and guess what...no hiking trips for me. I do get to lead trips at work, and a taste of the woods has been left lingering in the palette...but I have not hiked (I mean over 100 miles in one stretch) since May 05. Hence the slight jealousy. On the other hand...P will have a great time and that thought makes me smile.
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