Thursday, August 30, 2018
Running The AT?
The Appalachian Trail is a 2,200 mile journey over mountains, roads, towns and farmland. Historically, it has become a mindful journey. A long and challenging walk through yourself.
While it is a hike through some of the most beautiful land on the eastern coast, it also has its challenges. Black bear, poisonous snakes, insect bites, rough terrain, mosquitoes, and poison ivy. Among other not so healthly experiences, the mind also has its own journey.
You mostly walk with self, often accompanied by other thru-hikers. But you do the bulk of the trail work inside yourself. That can include climbing over fallen trees, rocks, streams. It also includes working out your head stuff.
Like so many things so simplistic for the gifts they offer, walking the trail has become a sort of record thing. Speed Like Ms. Pharr who ran the 2,200 miles meeting her husband nightly with food and supplies. Or the recent person who beat her journey. Now the Belgian dentist, Karel Sabbe, has topped Ms. Pharr's record. Most of the thru-hikers carry their own packs. They have designed restocking sites. There is no time clock other than the weather.
I wonder if we now should be measuring the JOY one has in completing a task, walking the walk. Maybe it is time to compete to see who grows more academically, emotionally, is in better shape than their counterparts.
I thought the measurement, if there is one, was to be inner growth. It wasn't about bragging rights, appearing in recreational magazines. Here is what was written about the experience:
"Hiking the trail is not just a physical accomplishment; it’s transformative in other ways as well. Hikers’ experiences of rebirth are not merely figurative and don’t always disappear after the hike is over. Some feel they’re communing with God while on the trail; for others, it restores their faith in humanity. Because hikers are away from family, friends, and significant others for weeks or months at a time, they must trust and rally behind one another. More than one romantic relationship and countless friendships have started on the trail and continued once the hike is over. The trail has its “sacred sites” — not only gatherings like Trail Days but also the shelters, camping areas, and towns along the way, where hikers laugh, dance, and tell stories of adventures, of hiker traditions, of trail magic, and of the heroes and legends that have grown up around the arduous walk. It also has its sacred texts, in the form of guidebooks and shelter journals, which hikers sign upon arrival at each outpost, debating philosophy, telling jokes, letting others know about “unfriendlies” in the area, working through their own inner struggles, and inspiring those whose energy is flagging. Many are at a crossroads in life and are searching for answers, and their fellow travelers or the trail itself eventually provide them, though the revelations do not come quickly or easily."
While it is a hike through some of the most beautiful land on the eastern coast, it also has its challenges. Black bear, poisonous snakes, insect bites, rough terrain, mosquitoes, and poison ivy. Among other not so healthly experiences, the mind also has its own journey.
You mostly walk with self, often accompanied by other thru-hikers. But you do the bulk of the trail work inside yourself. That can include climbing over fallen trees, rocks, streams. It also includes working out your head stuff.
Like so many things so simplistic for the gifts they offer, walking the trail has become a sort of record thing. Speed Like Ms. Pharr who ran the 2,200 miles meeting her husband nightly with food and supplies. Or the recent person who beat her journey. Now the Belgian dentist, Karel Sabbe, has topped Ms. Pharr's record. Most of the thru-hikers carry their own packs. They have designed restocking sites. There is no time clock other than the weather.
I wonder if we now should be measuring the JOY one has in completing a task, walking the walk. Maybe it is time to compete to see who grows more academically, emotionally, is in better shape than their counterparts.
I thought the measurement, if there is one, was to be inner growth. It wasn't about bragging rights, appearing in recreational magazines. Here is what was written about the experience:
"Hiking the trail is not just a physical accomplishment; it’s transformative in other ways as well. Hikers’ experiences of rebirth are not merely figurative and don’t always disappear after the hike is over. Some feel they’re communing with God while on the trail; for others, it restores their faith in humanity. Because hikers are away from family, friends, and significant others for weeks or months at a time, they must trust and rally behind one another. More than one romantic relationship and countless friendships have started on the trail and continued once the hike is over. The trail has its “sacred sites” — not only gatherings like Trail Days but also the shelters, camping areas, and towns along the way, where hikers laugh, dance, and tell stories of adventures, of hiker traditions, of trail magic, and of the heroes and legends that have grown up around the arduous walk. It also has its sacred texts, in the form of guidebooks and shelter journals, which hikers sign upon arrival at each outpost, debating philosophy, telling jokes, letting others know about “unfriendlies” in the area, working through their own inner struggles, and inspiring those whose energy is flagging. Many are at a crossroads in life and are searching for answers, and their fellow travelers or the trail itself eventually provide them, though the revelations do not come quickly or easily."
Remind me again, what kind of 'trail magic' you are getting when you run the AT?
