Hiking Log – Rest Easy Brother
This is part two of excerpts from the trail log which was located on a New York portion of the Appalachian trail. For the post which explains this series, click here.
Following is my selection of this week’s thoughts of a hiker.
March 15, 2016
NOBO to Greylock FTW. Lost a good friend this morning. TLG, you are in our thoughts, and our community is diminished. I’m grateful for our friendship and hike in your memory today. Rest easy brother!
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The hiker was walking Northbound to Mount Greylock, which is a mountain on the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts. It’s also the highest point in Massachusetts and is at mile marker 1582 from the beginning of the trail in Georgia, about 603 miles from the end of the trail in Maine. The views are apparently phenomenal. At the time these words were written, he was 180 miles away from his destination which meant he was still a few weeks from his goal.
I can imagine that at some point during the day, the hiker had received a call (there is cell service in this area) or perhaps he called home to check in. He was told that his friend had passed away. Being in the middle of the woods, miles from home with weeks to go until he was finished, I wonder if he considered going home. Do you stop a life goal in the middle to honor your friend in person or do you continue pursuing your dream? Would he even have been able to make it home for services? Whatever thoughts he may have had, he decided to continue moving forward. Sending his thoughts to his friend’s spirit as he put foot in front of foot all day long, writing words in his friend’s honor which are now shared nearly two years later, was his way to say goodbye.
I am positive that when this hiker got to his destination at the top of Mount Greylock, he looked out over the gorgeous views and raised a toast in honor of his friend. Godspeed!
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For more thehousekat.com Hiking-related posts, click here.