It’s the little problems that stop progress. How did I lose all my masks? Why doesn’t the USPS Click N Ship open? How did a birthday meal for my son Andy turn into a party for 11? We have to host it today the day before we leave! Now it seems I’m not ready. It’s the lists of gear and food. It’s checking off the list. It’s miniaturizing every item. And the culling. The culling.
Diana and Kellogg volunteered to mail our food to assigned post offices along the trail. The struggle is to guess where we’ll be. How am I fit to do this when I spend most of my day “Where am I?” and “What was I doing?
There are many things to consider, altitude, grade of ascent, weight of pack, strength, fitness and fortitude. My fortitude barely compensates for weak lungs. We start at altitude. We live at sea level. And we will be flown and driven to 5900 feet and immediately begin a 3190 feet ascent to 9090 feet. Will I make any progress on day one?
Many serious road blocks await to reach Patagonia, our first town 51 miles ahead. But we assign it an optimistic four day hike. We’ll have a 4-day food box packed waiting for Diana, or maybe Kellogg, to attach a label on the large priority box teaming with trail food and mail it four days before we HOPE to arrive. The mailing date is March 28th the same day we’ll be dropped off by a AZT shuttle driver. For $150.00 he’ll pick us up from the hotel and drive us to our start. We’ll don our packs, look forward, as though standing before the minister trying to remember our vows, and ponder 🤔 whether the fear and trepidation of committing ourselves to trust in only ourselves is ill-conceived. We won’t look back.
Mountain Peace 