My daughter has been struggling with problems of an existential nature. ‘Why am I here? What should I be doing with my life? Why are my mom and dad mortal – they won’t be here someday and I’ll have to deal with that?’ kind of stuff. She has always been a deep thinker; in her head and wondering about things way beyond what others might consider normal. That, and she talks about it.
Well…I know all those feelings and I tend not to talk about them. Instead, I soldier on figuring it will happen as it does or should and I’ll deal with it. I guess that’s not entirely true, either. Ever since my wife of 39 years told me she was in love with another man, I’ve chewed these questions harder than ever and the process brought me very low, indeed. I would escape in my exercise – Tour Ohio and the Survival Workout, or a trip to the Adirondacks, but a plan for the future? An understanding of what I was supposed to do with my life or why things happen the way they do? Not so much.
I read the book ‘Wild’ and then saw the movie starring Reese Witherspoon and will admit that this inspired me to announce my intentions to hike the Continental Divide Trail once I’d retired. Hike it, contemplate the meaning of life…or my life, at least, and write about it. I said it out loud, wrote about it here many times, and thought about it now and again – but really have done nothing to start the process. Until now.
I ordered three books on-line. Two on the Pacific Crest Trail and one on the Continental Divide. My thinking is changing as I do research on these two (I have decided against the Appalachian Trail for now because, in my head, I was looking for something fewer people have done) and I am now leaning towards the PCT. The CDT is still far from complete, with many miles on roads, and not as clearly defined. Most importantly though, it is 3,100 miles long, which is over 400 miles longer than the PCT. For a through-hiker, someone who hopes to complete the route in one continuous hike, that could be the difference between making it or having to head home because weather conditions have made it virtually impossible.
Time is of the essence as the hikes are typically begun in the late spring so as to avoid snow in the mountainous southern portions and/or the heat of desert travel in the summer months, and to complete the northern portions before winter socks in the peaks towards the end, which can happen in early autumn. Five to six months of continuous hiking at more than 20 miles a day is required to accomplish this task and I have asked myself if it would be fun to push that number to 25 and have little or no days off just to handle the CDT? That would be a ‘no’. In fact, as I do my research about distances, resupplying, weather conditions, and my own physical health, I may decide that whatever I do needs to be done over two seasons and not all at one time. For me, the most important reason to do this hike it not to challenge myself as to whether I can, but instead to immerse myself in my surroundings and gain as much enjoyment as is possible from walking through some of the most beautiful land this planet has to offer.
The Adirondacks are a few days away and I have been alternating between hiking with and without the pack. My hip pain is almost completely gone and I feel ready to tackle some tougher hikes. Much will depend on Justin’s knee. Though he cannot go in the back country with a pack, he still wants to try hiking and climbing. I can appreciate the foolishness of that thinking. I do it all the time.
Hike: 70 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 80-100 bpm.
Calories burned: 575.
Bonus: 22,800 steps.
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