A Mental Trip

Driving to work one day, I was paying attention to the road. Paying as much attention as I can on the 6.5 mile route that I drive twice a day. Bored with the usual radio fair, I was listening to an NPR Science Friday podcast. The host, was talking about how trees are dying in western forests. “Global warming…insect infestations… acid rain...dying old growth trees….” That’s when my mind left town.

I started thinking about the peaks in Colorado, Mt Shasta in northern California and the Trinity Alps in southwestern Oregon. My mind even have wandered to the Gila Wilderness in western New Mexico. All places that I have never been, but plan to visit and experience before, before I can’t visit or experience those places anymore. As I daydreamed, I wondered, why these places "call" to me. The answer is that I always see & experience memorable things during these trips.

This realization connected to a conversation a few days before with a friend’s wife. She had told me that she had agreed to go backpacking with her husband for a couple of nights on the AT in northern Georgia once the weather warmed up. She seem excited about it, but also not so sure if this was really a good idea.

After she left and the conversation had ended, I kept thinking about what was in store for her, besides the exhausting climbs, lack of facilities and sore muscles. She was going to be in places and see things that almost everyone she ever knows will never see or experience.

I occurred to me why I am always thinking about the next adventure. Sure, I enjoy the planning, the physical challenge, the company of a couple of good friends and of course the excuse to get more cool gear. But what draws me most is the chance to be places and see a part of the world that most people will never see. AND then when I return to my life and am back at my desk, I can remember the trails and vistas and creeks and waterfalls and all of the small things along the way.