Week 10
Week 10 Tuesday- Monday 10 weeks have passed and still I find myself mesmerized by the enchanted Appalachian mountains. Don't get me wrong, it is not always rainbows and puppies out here, but even on the toughest of days, something beautiful will catch my eye, and I remember that being out here is such a beautiful gift. This week, my hiking pal Wolfdog and I crossed the New York/New Jersey state line. The terrain at the beginning of this state was difficult. While the elevation only crept up to about 1000 ft., the terrain bore constant ups and downs that just absolutely exhausted us. After Tuesday's hike, we looked at the profile of our 17M day and figured out we had hiked over 4000ft of elevation, averaging about 450 ft. of ascend and descend per mile. If that means nothing to you, just trust me when I say that is a lot.
The hikes have been hard, but beautiful. One of my favorite parts was the Lemon Squeezer which was a rock scramble containing very tightly packed boulders in Harriman State Park. The park is in the North Western part of the state and was such a pleasure to walk through. I saw my first buck on the trail during our stay in this park and was able to pick and eat wild blueberries along the ridge lines. One of my favorite moments was catching a glimpse of the New York City skyline early one morning as I was walking up my first mountain. Claude Debussy's Claire de Lune was playing in my headphones and, at just the right moment, the early morning fog cleared enough for me to catch a glimpse of tiny sky scrapers that were 50M or so off in the distance. I love moments like this. They are so captivating.
These special moments amongst so much rigorous work always reminds me of life in recovery. Everyday, I wake up with the simple intention of walking all day long. I really don't have any expectations beyond the idea that I will complete the miles and be tired, hungry, and sweaty by the days end. Most days though, I get a little amazing moment thrown at me by this wonderful universe. I get to see a breathtaking view, or meet an interesting person, or see an intricate little piece of nature that I never noticed before. Sometimes the moment encapsulates me so intensely that I lose myself completely. This happened just the other day. It was a beautiful windy afternoon, and the suns flickering light was sparkling down on me all day through the moving leaves. I put Radiohead's Treefingers on repeat and before I knew it, 5M had gone by in an instant. I totally lost myself. It was like my mind was in a timeless trance that I couldn't awake from. I have no idea how I didn't trip and fall. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't accidentally walk off a cliff or something. I think, for the first time in my life that I was able to find a completely meditative state. It was serenity.
In recovery, I set the intention each day of not taking a drink or drug. This statement is so seemingly simple, and at first, you would think nothing big could come of such a small task. As the days go by though, life hands you more and more little beautiful moments you never would have been dealt had you not quit drinking and using. You will hear someone say, "I am proud of you" instead of, "I am worried about you". You find yourself helping another person instead of constantly asking for help yourself, and before you know it, something small, like not drinking, changes your entire world. These little moments are what make your life worth living again, and although they are tucked in between hours and hours of hard work, they are the reason you continue the amazing journey you are on. I never could have imagined my life would change so much simply from not drinking, but now I know that it is what happens when an addict stops using, and I am certain it will happen for anyone else suffering from addiction who is willing to go to certain lengths to get sober themselves.
I have also been doing a little of what is referred to as "deli blazing" in the old Empire State. There are delis everywhere here! Anywhere the AT crosses a highway in New York, there is almost a full guarantee that there is a deli there.They may be a quarter mile or so off trail, but the extra steps are worth it for the food you get to enjoy. Even gas station delis here have better Reubens and rolls than most restaurants where I live.
Another highlight of this part of the trail was visiting an on-trail zoo. The zoo was located right between Bear Mountain and the bridge you walk on to cross over the Hudson River. The zoo is a rehabilitation facility for animals from the local forest, and the trail goes literally straight through it. They had bears, foxes, snakes, bobcats, and many other plants and animals from the area. It was nice to take a little excursion between mountains that day, and the Hudson was gorgeous to walk over. It was another one of those surreal magical moments I get out here.
I have been doing what is called a 'hero' in and out of towns lately. This is where you hike into town early, resupply, maybe do some laundry, and hike back out later in the day. Keeping my daily mileage up has gotten me to over 950M hiked in just two months. I am so close to my halfway point, I can almost taste it. I also haven't taken a zero day in over a month in preparation to take three of them in NYC with Wes. I am so excited as I sit here on the train to Grand Central Station. Even being on the train for just over an hour though, I can tell this experience will be a bit of a culture shock. I already miss being outside. It is hard to describe. It's like being outside feels like being inside to me (my new normal), and inside feels foreign. I will enjoy indoor plumbing though, and I plan on taking more showers on this three-day excursion than I have all month long. The amount of people will be overwhelming I am sure, but the sights of the beautiful iron jungle will be worth withstanding the crowd. I also plan on gaining about ten pounds and eating my way through whatever Chinese, pizza, and bagels with schmear that I can get my grubby little hiker hands on. Most importantly though, I get to see my hubs.... and my first Starbucks coffee in over two and a half months. NYC, here I come!
