[pct-l] worries about not worrying

[spiritbear2k@hotmail.com (Ginny & Jim Owen)]

>
>Actually, it's become second nature to me to plan a long hike.  Wish I were
>going somewhere....
>
>Sly

Give it a little while, you won't be able to stop yourself, you'll start
working on the next one ;-)  It's funny, I remember Rainman in the kitchen
at one of the Aldha Spring Meetings saying, "Maybe when I finish the CDT,
I'll get it out of my system and I'll be able to settle down."  We all
laughed, knowing how unlikely that was.  Sometimes, I don't laugh though,
because I want so desperately to be going somewhere, anywhere.  Last summer
I had the fun of planning our two weeks in Montana, but it wasn't the same.
It was so soon over.  I wasn't ready to come home.  More than that, I really
miss the hopes and dreams that start the process, the months of anticipation
and training and reading about the trails, the planning and mapwork before
we leave, and of course, the months of hiking it.  It has been so much the
center of our lives, there is a real hole when the hikes are done.  I don't
think I was off the trail 2 months before I started thinking, "What next?"
The most depressing thought I have is, "What if there isn't a next?"  There
will be, one way or another.  We talk about maybe doing all three again.  Or
the C2C, or the Trans-Canada or . . . Doing an unfamiliar trail has the
advantage of giving the planning time again, which is something I would
really enjoy.  Doing the Triple Crown would mean going back to places known
and loved and finding out again that, "Yes, it is as good as I remembered."
Jim says we should be ready in '05 or '06, we'll see.  Emotionally I'm ready
now, its the physical and financial that are the hard parts.  But I really
do know what you are saying, Sly.

Ginny

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