Oh! Long path that is coming ahead

New Year, New Challenge

A little over a year ago, my circuit of Mount Rainier (Tahoma) was concluding and returning home from the Wonderland Path. At that time I was not sure if a long walk would follow again. However, as the bright images persisted, and suffering and struggle vanished in memory, it opened me more.

Meanwhile, I saw a documentary about the Boston Celtics. In him, the young interviewer asks the legendary Cousy Bob, then in his 90 years, which wanted him to have known about aging when he was younger. Cousey replies that «you become less.» That certainly called me a bell. As a 68 -year -old cancer patient, I am not ten years old to «think about it.» If I’m going to do something that implies a physical challenge, I must do it now. Next year I will be less; The year after that, even less. Of course, exercise and nutrition and good luck and good genes can delay that process, but the direction is inevitable, and the final destination is the same for all of us.

Speaking of that cancer, I got good news in the last year. I am in remission! The clinical trial has apparently worked and now the question is how long it will last. Nobody is using the word «cure», but 2-4 years of remission do not seem unreasonable to wait. Another good reason to face any challenge now.

Go somewhere, but where?

Then, the question became what trip a step forward in the challenge without taking care of my year completely. Family events and trips had blocked a lot from my time, but I saw a place where I could fit in approximately one month to try something. I settled on the long path, which crosses Vermont’s length from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Canada.

In 1975, I was washing dishes in an elegant hotel restaurant in Stowe, Vermont after my first year at the University. On my birthday I left, alone, for a crest on the other side of the valley. Little by little I made my way to the summit, where I made its way between dramatic explosions while crossing the crest. Finally, when Twilight fell, and the mosquitoes went to millions, I picked up a place to get away from insects and went to sleep (more or less). Happy Birthday.

In the morning, as soon as there was light, I continued to the observation tower where there were a ranger. I seem to remember that he gave me a donut. I definitely remember that the air was clear and clear, and the valley below looked like a postcard. I was only 18 years old. Return to Vermont for a longer walk feels like the complete circle.

Plans made, abandoned and reprogrammed

Going alone was not really my predetermined plan. An old friend could join me in May/June, but I couldn’t do it then (and the long path is a clay swamp then too!). Another friend thought about joining me, but his physical conditioning program was not increasing as fast as he needed, and acknowledged that the goal would not be feasible. So I will only go, and who knows what friends I can do on the way.

The moment has also been a challenge. He was supposed to have two weeks on the walk good nowAnd I haven’t gone to Vermont yet. See, our family went to Botswana and Zimbabwe to celebrate my wife’s birthday. It was amazing, really! Look at the photos! – But I became a bit and generously gave it to Lee (my wife) and she got sick at home. No, it was not Covid, but both diagnosed us RSV upon our return. The relatively healthy (I) needed to take care of the most sick (she) and the planes of the long paths were retreated.

Lion Fiests On Dead Giraffe

Mama Hippo and Baby (nice and dangerous!)

Two health setbacks later, now he is finally in repair. So flight to Vermont on August 14, and my son (who lives near Burlington) will take me at the beginning of the path in Massachusetts to start my walk north on August 16. That is the plan anyway.

An orderly bed while preparing to pack and go!

All the things to worry about

What worries me? Several things to be honest.

• The Wonderland Trail had specific falling locations for replenishment. I will have to learn to have my supply and avoid carrying too much (or very little) food. I will have to learn to get to the city and discover where to stay in the city in my supply days.
• I am in good shape, but the RSV really canceled my plans to launch my body to the condition before the exit. I will have to acquire my «real» paths on the path itself. It’s not ideal, but sometimes if you wait until you are perfectly «ready», you never go.
• My cousin informs that some of the stretching in the northern part of the long path are really difficult and potentially dangerous. He described to slide through a long slope on his butt, because he did not trust his standing legs. It was considerably younger than I am now when that happened. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get there.
• I am not a great rainy climate hiker. At my time, drinking zero days to wait for the rain will not work. How will I handle the long and humid logs if they come to pass?
• The first 100 miles more or less of the long path overlap the path of the Apalaches. What will it be like to walk with great crowds through hikers? Will competition for the refuge space be fierce?
• What happens if my technical skills for blogging on the way are too limited and this ends as the only blog post I do?
• Then they see the usual normal anxieties: what happens if it is too difficult and fails? What happens if I was injured? What happens if a bear eats me? What happens if there is a hurricane, and becomes extroatropical, and hits Vermont, and generates tornadoes, and I am caught in one, and suddenly I find myself on the yellow brick road that goes to Oz ?????

There is nothing to worry about, really!

Soon all concerns will be replaced by the simple need to place one foot in front of the other. I am excited by the prospect and I’m glad to have it for the trip!

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