The End in Sight
A few days ago I was standing on West Peak of Bigelow Mountain. Beyond the range in view, behind a haze, Katahdin sat, peering over the tops of all the other mountains. 100 miles as the crow flies and 51 more on the trail, it will take us 10 days to reach the summit.
I have lived in the woods for over five months. I have camped and tented and enjoyed a bed here and there. I have walked over 2,000 miles. I am accustomed to the simple pleasures of climbing to a peak, feeling the wind and smelling the changing seasons, walking to the next peak, and enjoying the camaraderie of the most supportive group of men I know outside my family. We sleep, we eat, we hike, and we laugh. That is my life.
But in ten days, on top of that mountain, it will no longer be.
Recently we've begun listing what we're looking forward to, slowly preparing our minds and hearts for the transition to the normality of our parents' basements.
Above all I cherish my one inevitability: proximity to friends and family.
With the end in sight, the miles will fly by against our better wishes. And it is hard to reconcile all this, in my blessed life.
I have lived in the woods for over five months. I have camped and tented and enjoyed a bed here and there. I have walked over 2,000 miles. I am accustomed to the simple pleasures of climbing to a peak, feeling the wind and smelling the changing seasons, walking to the next peak, and enjoying the camaraderie of the most supportive group of men I know outside my family. We sleep, we eat, we hike, and we laugh. That is my life.
But in ten days, on top of that mountain, it will no longer be.
Recently we've begun listing what we're looking forward to, slowly preparing our minds and hearts for the transition to the normality of our parents' basements.
Above all I cherish my one inevitability: proximity to friends and family.
With the end in sight, the miles will fly by against our better wishes. And it is hard to reconcile all this, in my blessed life.
posted by Sara Haxby at
10:49 AM
