What I got out of hiking up 10,000 steps and down 15,000

---

Some of you have wondered WHY this three month trip....well, in part, it is because Bill and I are not getting any younger!! That’s a fact. In particular, I was/am hoping to recapture some of the excitement and clarity-of-thought that we both remember from our year-long 1994 excursion. Until climbing the mountain, I wasn’t sure if we could accomplish that.

However, while walking in weather-turning-to-snow, and being afraid because we might have taken the wrong path, I concentrated on putting one foot in front of another, in front of another, in front of another, and focused on NOT falling down the mountainside. I thought about not panicking, and not getting mad because I didn’t know what was coming up...

I won’t kid you. There have been some moments in the last month when I have been really angry: sometimes with myself, or with Bill, or with someone on front of me, or...if you know me, you get the picture. I’ve tried to stay focused on what I can do to move on. Sometimes, I think of my friend Lavonne Neerland, who is probably the most cheerful person I know...I thought of her laugh and the sparkle in her eyes and from time to time, tried to “be Lavonne.”

My Swiss host asked about goals for the trip: I realized on the hike that just the hike was one of my goals: to be challenged physically and to come out okay. I told him that when we return, I intend to take advantage of the Catskills, to get outdoors, to climb to fire towers, to hike in whatever weather, and to enjoy the here and now. I am probably speaking to the choir, as they say, and I have known the answers, but it was really inspiring to feel this way again.

---

Comments

[allen]

never give up