[pct-l] On wanderlust....

Thu Dec 6 09:48:09 CST 2007

Thank you for that Mags.  A very good read.  I'll order the Steinbeck book from the library today!

But, I would like to say this.  The AT ruined me too- completely.  I went back to the "traditional" life after my thru in '91.  It has been 16 years since I did that trail.  16 YEARS!!!  What a horrible, horrible mistake.  And tho my hiking escapades have been many since then, none have been so grand as the AT.  I'm long overdue and I aim to correct that next year.  From then on, I'd like to think I can work 6 months and hike 6 months every year.  One of my philosophies is:  "It's only a mistake if you don't learn anything from it.  If you learn something, then it has been a valuable lesson, not a mistake".  So, I intend to cut down on my "mistakes" by hiking more.  I make no apologies to anyone.  Why do hikers always think they have to apologize for their lifestyles???  We're simply going for a walk!!!  Tell me how that hurts anyone!

I have come to believe that life, for me, in "un-civilization" is a scam.  It has NEVER fit right.  I have 3 college degrees, 2 medical careers and a beautiful home.  And none of it means anything to me or has given me joy and pride, as compared to my AT hike.  So why not capitalize on it??  I tried it "their way".  It didn't work.  Now I'll do it my way.  It's getting late in the game for me!  Too late, too smart, but better late than never!  I feel my wanderlust, gypsy blood, rolling stone spirit is a blessed gift.  How wrong it would be of me to "dull it down" by living a hum-drum life.

"Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road;
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth, I ask not good fortune;
I myself am good fortune.  
Henceforth, I whimper no more, postpone no more, I need nothing.
I'm done with indoor complaints, libraries, and querulous criticisms.
Strong and content, I travel the open road."

Compliments of "Uncle Walt" Whitman....emphasis mine.  A familiar read to all hikers, but always a welcome reminder............

Hike on!  (Hike now, work later!)

Wheeew

Paul Magnanti <pmags at yahoo.com> wrote: I think many of us are attracted to Robert Service because it speaks to the wanderlust (and wanderlust in nature) in particular.

A little while ago, I posted this e-mail on CDT-L. It has a few lines from another wandering writer: Steinbeck:

Here 's an e-mail I sent out to some CDT friends:

Hard to believe....  

For
those of us in the CDT 2006 crew (and those who admit to knowing us..
;-) ), it has been about 1 year (give or take) since we finished the
CDT.  

Feeling a bit of CDT homesickness if you will, I watched Disco's Walkumentary again.

I
laughed at the many funny memories, thought wistfully of the time spent
in the Winds and think of what a great year 2006 turned out to be.

I don't think the time on the CDT would have been as memorable if it was not for all the great people we met on the trail.   Safe
to say, I think many of us did the CDT expecting a solo experience and
not a social one. The CDT was mainly solo for me, but the moments spent
with other hikers were so memorable.  There
were not many of us, but those of us out there seemed to really have
some great memories together. One crazy weekend in CB, marg night in
Rawlins (who ever knew a pit of a town could be so fun ?), walking
through some gorgeous country together and too many other memories to
count.

One year later,
it is amazing how many of us still see each other. A bunch of us did
the 13er traverse outside of Berthoud Pass, D-low, Disco and I
experienced CDT-like brutality (questionable boundaries, old and
vanishing trails, road walking and snow drifts included!) around Pikes Peak,
we continue to hook up for beers, a few of us hooked up at the ALDHA
West Gathering (sigh. not d-low or I), and one crazy and unexpected
night, Speedo was in Denver at a mainly thru-hiker get together. Many
of the people on this e-mail list were there. The energy was high and
made for a memorable night.

What
is there to say? The CDT last year was awesome. And I think part of the
reason was because of the shared experience we all had.  So
here's to the CDT in 2006. Here's to a great 2007 that we are about to
finish. And here's continuing to staying in touch for 2008 and beyond.
:)

Nostalgic Mags

The replies back from my trail buddies were in a similar vein.

As
I have said many times in the past, balancing a sense of wanderlust
with an equally strong sense of wanting some stability and community in
my life has been difficult.

I enjoy my community here in
Boulder. But, I look at photos, I read my journals and I watch the
videos. My mind wanders to the backpack hanging on the garage wall. I
just want to grab the pack and go.

Next year it will be ten years since I've done the Appalachian Trail.
Hiking the AT, frankly, ruined me. It was hard to go back to my
previous life in Rhode Island. And it left me with the desire to
continue to wander. The intellectual part of me thinks "You are going to be 34 in a few months. You should grow up and settle down!"   My gut tells me "When can I get out again??!?!"  I readily admit to not knowing how to strike a balance. 

For those cursed and blessed with wanderlust, you are in good company.  Steinbeck wrote a wonderful book called TRAVELS WITH CHARLIE.
In this travelogue, Steinbeck (along with his dog Charlie) travels the
roads and off-the-beaten path areas of early 1960s America. A chance to
reconnect with the common people he wrote so eloquently about in the
past.

Some of the first lines Steinbeck wrote  set the tone of the book:

When
I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured
by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years
described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle
age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I
am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. .
. In other words, I don't improve, in further words, once a bum always
a bum. I fear the disease is incurable.

A (now former) girlfriend once told me that "The outdoors for you is not a hobby, it is a lifestyle".
She's right. But more importantly, my outdoor TRAVELS are a lifestyle
for me. A lifestyle I am finding difficult to give up; a yearning that
never goes away.

Even if I am not on the trail, or planning to
be on long journey, the urge to get out there never goes away. Day
hikes are nice, overnighters are fantastic...but nothing replaces the
sheer joy and bliss of being on a journey. The simple act of putting
one foot in front of another. Getting from Point A to Point B under my
own power. Living out of my pack. Having the country all round me and
being discovered one step at a time.

Once a bum. Always a bum.

************************************************************
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust 
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.pmags.com

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