"Don't look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone. And don't be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering."
Start: 17A, NY
Finish: Arden Valley Road, NY
Today: 12.4 mi
Total: 229.4 mi
I woke up to Heather wishing me a happy birthday. What a cool thing to be doing as I enter my 30s - hiking the Appalachian Trail! The freedom of the forest and simple beauty within is incredible! Most of the time I have no idea what day it is and don't care. We wake to the sounds of birds, filter ice cold water from the streams and give our bodies such a workout each day.
While packing my bag this morning I noticed how careful, if not obsessed, I am about making sure I have everything. I'm always scared of leaving something behind but have so few things that if something weren't packed, I would probably notice. We woke up late this morning so by the time we got to the trail and began hiking, it was nearly 10am. Shortly after I looked down at my watch while hiking and saw it was 10:12am - I officially turned 30 years old at that moment. I looked at the trail ahead. Looks like it isn't all downhill after 30!
We walked through the forest and every once in a while we would scramble up some exposed bedrock above the trees for a fantastic view just before descending below the canopy. After almost 8 miles we came to a tough section. Even though it was much smaller than some of the mountains we've climbed up north it was no less forgiving. We climbed hand over hand straight up rock walls, under fallen trees, through narrow passages and at some points had to lean into the mountain as we shimmied our way across a 2-inch wide ledge with a 100 foot drop behind.
A bit later, with 2.5 miles to go, we got to the endless climb of Arden Mountain. It felt like the mountain was growing, never letting us summit it. After finally getting above tree line Heather declared that we had made it to the top. I wasn't so certain. After a brief, teasing downhill the mountain grew once more. I told her the mountain was evil and that it was laughing at us. Up again, down briefly, up again, down briefly, etc. A log book at the top (usually indicating a special point) of a clearing got our hopes up that we had made it to the summit. After a brief down we saw yet another wall in front of us. I made a deep, stony chuckling sound and asked Heather if she heard the mountain laughing at us.
Heather surprised me when we reached Arden Valley road. She had called a hiking friend we met in Duncannon who lives near Bear Mountain. JB is one incredible guy who hiked the AT at 65, PCT at 66 and Continental Divide trail at 67! JB brought us to the Holiday Inn express. What a great birthday present!
~Daddy Long Legs
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