September 23, 2020 - Long Trail - Day 3 - Part 2

The Long Trail : Day 3 : Part 2 : 9/23/20 . Exhausted and breathless, I raced up and down the fire tower atop Stratton Mountain. I barely paused to take in the significance of the very place I stood. This piece of Earth was where Benton MacKaye stood and first had the idea for the Appalachian Trail. But I couldn’t be bothered to let the weight of his decision and its impact on my life slow me down. Instead I snapped a few obligatory photos, stumbled down the rocky terrain around Stratton Pond and found myself on the other side of the corridor of day hikers. . Finally, after 20.9 miles we found camp, my adrenaline waned and the exhaustion hit like a brick wall. Blisters throbbed with stinging pain on the outside of both my heels, my right shoulder was tender and sore to the touch, and my feet had a heartbeat all their own. We ate dinner with glazed over looks as our bodies begged for rest. The highlight of my evening was adding oven baked cheese to my couscous! It’s the small things that bring joy on trail. . As I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, balance is hard for me. Balancing rest and challenge, balancing enjoying my surroundings and pushing for a goal, balancing pushing through pain and giving myself permission to stop. Everyday we make delicate choices that live in the gray area. And each day we get a new opportunity to find healthy balance and learn what that looks likes for each of us. On this particular day on trail, I failed. But failure is still valuable and a wise teacher and certainly not something to hide from or feel ashamed about. I would get another chance tomorrow to find balance and I get another chance today in my present life. And the good news is, so do you! Again, be gracious with yourself today, we’re all doing the best we can.