I can't remember exactly when it was that I started plotting my great escape. No, not from a Nazi Prison camp, but from Civilization. Initially, I just went out and bought the stuff that I would need to survive a couple of days in the woods. I had carried my "House" before, of course. In the military I had a bunch of crappy, heavy gear that was one-size-fits-all and, did I mention, heavy as hell. Throw in a few cans of chili and a couple hundred rounds of ammo and, um, yea. Now I had light, good fitting gear. I was twenty year older and forty pounds heavier but we were talking about walking, after all. How hard could it be?
I had day-hiked fairly often. There was one local "mountain" in particular that we had been up and down several times. So, I ahd a Hiker Friend of mine select an "easy" route to a shelter just a few miles into the White Mountain National Forest. It might as well ahve been on Mars. I made it about half way up the first peak. That was all. Oh sure, there were all kinds of extenuating circumstances, like the couple of feet of snow still on the ground. Or the fact that I hadn't slept in, like, three days. Whatever. In the end we came down and rooted out a camp site for the night. My traveling companion wanted to shelter at teh Mount Washington Hotel. I think he missed the point a little. Yes we went back up the hill the next day and got that "win" but it was not a summit. we did not camp in the wilderness.
In the couple of years since I hiked. Almost all of it was lowlands and park trails. We made it to the top of a few mountains that you could drive mostly to the top of before you found the trail head. Then we tried Pleasant Mountain in Bridgeton. We didn't make it to the top. Of course, I was probably having at least part of a heart attack at the time (I had a full-blown one a couple of months later). Excuses, they say, are like smelly anatomy parts: every one has some. And that was that.
I still long for and ceaselessly plan my escape, my challenge, my Summit! Someday. Someday soon I hope!
I had day-hiked fairly often. There was one local "mountain" in particular that we had been up and down several times. So, I ahd a Hiker Friend of mine select an "easy" route to a shelter just a few miles into the White Mountain National Forest. It might as well ahve been on Mars. I made it about half way up the first peak. That was all. Oh sure, there were all kinds of extenuating circumstances, like the couple of feet of snow still on the ground. Or the fact that I hadn't slept in, like, three days. Whatever. In the end we came down and rooted out a camp site for the night. My traveling companion wanted to shelter at teh Mount Washington Hotel. I think he missed the point a little. Yes we went back up the hill the next day and got that "win" but it was not a summit. we did not camp in the wilderness.
In the couple of years since I hiked. Almost all of it was lowlands and park trails. We made it to the top of a few mountains that you could drive mostly to the top of before you found the trail head. Then we tried Pleasant Mountain in Bridgeton. We didn't make it to the top. Of course, I was probably having at least part of a heart attack at the time (I had a full-blown one a couple of months later). Excuses, they say, are like smelly anatomy parts: every one has some. And that was that.
I still long for and ceaselessly plan my escape, my challenge, my Summit! Someday. Someday soon I hope!
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