The Spirit of Hiking has visited me once again.
So, It’s been awhile since we’ve chatted. Yeah, life can be a bit overwhelming at times as well as a constant test of fortitude. With all that life throws at one during the course of any given day, hardly a one passes that I don’t think about the Appalachian Trail. As this year starts to come to an end, friends, co-workers, family constantly inquire about my plans for this coming summer. Of course, by this time I’ve been able to work out a ’song and dance’ that everyone is keen to understand. It goes something along the lines of, “well, I’m not certain about all the different things that could change in the next couple months, but I’ve set everything up so that when March comes around, I should be able to leave sometime around the 15th-23rd. If I am able to leave earlier in March, that theoretically means that I will be able to get back sooner, the later I start, the later I’ll get off the trail. But as of right now, I plan on hiking the Appalachian Trail.” By the time I’m through with a rambling of this sort, peoples’ heads are shaking in acknowledgement. I’m not really certain if it’s a ‘whew, glad that’s done and over with’ or a ‘hey, that makes sense, he’s not setting himself up again for a tortorious summer of constant disappointment’ or if it’s a ‘yeah, he’ll get on the trail next year my ass.. my beer is low, need another.’ I never seem to be able to read people that well when it comes to trail talk. I believe it’s a; you get it, or you don’t. Black or white.
Anyway, I was trolling around on the ‘internets‘ when I ran across this site for the CDT. It’s called ‘The Walkumentary‘ and it’s about the CDT Thru-hike of “Disco” and “P.O.D.” (being the main characters) with large supporting roles with he ever hilarious German, ‘Speedo’ and the extremely healthy eating ‘Skittles.’ I downloaded the five hi-quality chapters off their site (very nice, btw) and watched them back-to-back. I felt as though I was wasn’t living life. Everytime I watch a video like these, especially if they are made from different people, I realize that I am still not doing what it is in this world that I want to do. How pathetic. I’ve become a slave to myself! On the flipside, it would seem that my fire has been re-lit and that getting out on the AT will remedy this feeling.
