settling in

As I headed out for my second day of hiking things were looking up. It was a beautiful day and the trail was so green and fresh and quiet. Home is not a quiet place for me, so while I missed my girls and the constant noise of their world, I was loving every minute of the quiet. I found I just couldn't think about home. In fact, when I returned from the trip people would ask me what I thought about and honestly – it was either nothing or I just couldn't remember. I think I had a lot of conversations…the kind where it's just me talking and I am amazingly insightful. But they were always built on random thoughts. I sang a lot of songs in my head too – or rather, I sang the same 2 songs repeatedly and they were not the songs I was hoping for. In fact, sometimes I would try to change the song but never had any luck…my subconscious would take back over as soon as my diligence waned. But back to my point – I could not think about my family, I found I was better off not talking about them if I met someone and generally just kept myself from dwelling. I missed them but I also understood that this was my time and that even if you are a parent, you still deserve time to not be anything to anyone but you. Too deep? 

So on my second day I hiked the trail from Gooch Gap (at 15.8 miles) to the shelter at Blood Mountain (at 29.3 miles). Blood Mountain shelter is located at the top of about 1500 feet of climbing over about 5 miles of trail. The final push to the top is pretty steep and the 45 pound beast strapped to my back was not helping. When I came around the bend in the trail and saw the shelter, I forgot all about the climb to it. The shelter at Blood Mountain is made of stone and surrounded by huge rocks that offer inspiring views of the terrain below. When I arrived at the shelter, there was already a cobbled crew of hikers making camp for the evening. There were two guys who were hanging their hammocks (this is a trend in backpacking…a hammock rather than a tent) on top of the big rocks…literally on top of the world from our vantage point. It was absolutely beautiful, but there is NO WAY I would stay up there. One middle of the night potty break and you could easily topple off the top of the mountain. It was also extremely windy up there. I recorded the wind in my tent later that night, amazed at how much it sounded like surf. One of these two guys was a really experienced hiker. He and his wife had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail on the West Coast as their honeymoon. He wasn't like Gear Guy from the night before – but he was super helpful and had great tips for me. His buddy was new to hiking – but both were great company and I felt so much more comfortable than I had the night before. 

There was also a brother/sister pair at the shelter. The brother was a cop from Indiana. The sister was an ex-Marine. They were set up in the shelter along with a young kid who was just drifting…not really hiking the trail with any direction or goal in mind…just sort of hanging out on it. I set my tent up just outside the shelter and enjoyed dinner on top of the rocks with the others while we watched the sun set. The experienced hiker (I sort of took to calling him North Face, although he had a trail name but I couldn't remember it) shared the dinner his wife had prepared for them. Mac and cheese with chicken and peas. I was eating freeze-dried eggs so I happily accepted a bit of his extra mac and cheese and have been on a quest to recreate that deliciousness since returning home. I also think I told several of the people I would meet in the days to come about this dish. 

Sitting on the top of that rock, watching the quiet sunset and feeling the cool breeze blow through my sweaty, stinky hair – I felt so lucky to be in that exact moment. 

The image of that moment will remain one of the best of my trip.