For the 9 months leading up to the hike, I worked hard to prepare physically for the hike. Not knowing how to train for high elevation hiked, I went with what I knew: weight training, weighted vest walks, and a stair master. I scrupulously avoided reading about the hike up to Mt. Whitney - perhaps an oversight, but like The Grand Canyon, I wanted to keep my mind open about what it was going to be like (while I still should have read more about the hike, I do not know this was a bad philosophy, specifically about Mt. Whitney. Likely I would have talked myself out of going at all). I added in training hikes with The Outdoorsman to get some hiking practice as well (This was actually one of the most valuable decisions I made).
And then, of course, the world just happened.
TB The Elder passed away. Work exploded, as I seemed to be buried under a mountain of work that only seemed to escalate as the day got closer, to the point that I was working 12 hours days, sitting at the computer typing and talking, grabbing meals and bringing them back to the desk, My world was becoming a long tunnel between the bedroom, the kitchen, and the desk. It seemed there was no reason that I could leave.
And yet the day came, and I left.
I only realized (after the hike) that I had baggage that I was carrying, baggage that was as heavy as the full backpack you see above. It had become the combination of a lot of things: deciding what to do about The Ranch and when to go, a work where I still feel I am neither fully engaged nor fully functional yet always busy, and the ever nagging sense that I am simply not really "doing" the thing I am called to do.
Packs are heavy things for 8 days; heavier only are the packs which our minds bind to us.
Those are deep thoughts stated. So true that the brain holding on to Everyday World can effect what we are doing Right Now. I hope the physical labor of hike and the sights around you lightened the load. Trudging up the trail, balancing your weight + pack on your back is distraction enough.
ReplyDeleteThat is why i avoid riding a bicycle in the wild. You have to concentrate so much on avoiding that or dealing with unseen obstacle that you don't get to appreciate the scenery around you.
Backpacking certainly focuses the mind wonderfully, especially if one is doing what we did. If one is not careful, one can spend all one's time looking at the placement of one foot in front of another - as you say, focused only on what you are doing.
DeleteA complicating factor is that on a hike like this, you are always trying to reach a campsite, sometimes with people of varying degrees of "getting there". One thing on this trip I had to make time for specifically is, as you suggest, stopping and looking around to see and take pictures. If I am not enjoying the landscape, I am merely just walking through a different environment.
For most of my working life, I always expected a period of acclimation upon my return from a long vacation, to figure out what had occurred during my absence and to get caught up. I can say that what I actually discovered upon my return, even after a month away boating the Grand Canyon, was that absolutely nothing had happened in my absence. It really made me ponder what the heck I was doing there if I could step away for a month, have everything "progress" fine without me, and return exactly as if I had never left in the first place.
ReplyDeleteEd, I have had much the same discovery. Most of my projects moved forward. Things continued on. In some meaningful ways, my vacation was almost unnoticed - a good sign that people are doing their job; perhaps not a great sign for my contribution at the company?
DeleteI am glad you went anyway, TB. I hope the Lord helped you sort what was in your "heavy backpack."
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe ad God bless.
I am glad I went as well Linda. Frankly, there was no way I was not going.
DeleteAs Linda said above.... It's funny how we sometimes keep a tight grip onto that baggage despite 'wishing' it would just go away. Stand in the Rain, my friend...
ReplyDelete~hobo
Agreed, Hobo. And I am famous for my ability to hold on things long after they have served their purpose.
DeleteThat's a good prologue. You've got my attention, TB.
ReplyDeleteThank you Becki!
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