I dreamed of the trail last night. Well not the trail actually, but the night
before getting on the trail. I was at
the house of a trail angle with a bunch of other hikers, as we made one final
check of our gear before heading out in the morning. In my dream I meet a lot of the people that I
had been chatting with through Facebook and the Yahoo! Group. Spirits were high and everyone was laughing
and joking with each other. It was such
a positive and supportive place. As I
woke from this dream, I found myself actually trying to force myself back into
the dream, as I was not ready to leave it yet.
Hardly a night goes by without me looking into some aspect
of my trip; looking at maps, re-evaluating my gear and food lists, looking for
chargers for my phone, searching for undiscovered JMT websites or Youtube!
videos… I hope I am not alone in this;
that I have not turned into an obsessive person. I think, for me it is more of a way to help
pass the time until I actually fly out for this grand adventure. And for me it is a grand adventure!
Many people have said to me that this is a trip of a “lifetime”. I hope that this is not the case. A trip of a lifetime to me is a onetime thing;
an event never to be exceeded. My hope
that this is just the start of many great adventures to come. As I look back at the things I have done in
my life, I do not see many great adventures yet. There have been a few like volunteering at
Chena River State Recreation Area in Alaska, before my junior year of college,
moving from Ohio to Colorado, and of course parenthood (this is the true “lifetime”
adventure). Most of my exploits have
been relatively short, 3-4 days in length at most. This trip will be my
catalyst to more adventures (or a good reason to take up golf if I end up
hating long distance backpacking). While
this trip will be solo, the future ones must include my family.
This trip will prove to me that I can undertake such grand
adventures, but for me to fully enjoy it, I want to share it with my family (I
am already planning a 2019 JMT hike with the full family. My son should be old enough to make it by
then). One Bbog that I really like is The Big Outside by Michael Lanza. In this
blog he shares his stories of experiencing the natural world with his
family. If you have kids and have not
checked it out I highly recommend it.
Until next time ... HIKE ON!!!!!
