Here is the truth about thru hiking: it is boring and lonely most of the time. It is mundane and tedious and hard and annoying. It is filled up with chores and taking care of your physical and emotional and spiritual needs. It is life, after all, not really all that different from clocking in and out of a day job.
And yet, after saying all of that, there are moments that shatter you with the awe of it all. There are sunsets and sunrises that burst your heart. There are people saying and doing unexpected things that remind you that humanity is undeniably kind and good and giving. There are tiny moments that reshape the very makeup of your soul, they are so precious and filled with magic.
Like I said, thru hiking really isn’t different from any other part of life. And life has a way of cutting through the usual to give us all huge explosions of magic.
Out here and at home, life becomes spectacular when I look for those moments, those tiny happenings that rearrange all the furniture in my mind, letting in more light and love and clearing away all that stagnant dust.
The truth about thru hiking is that it will force you to confront hidden corners, discover how far down your wells of despair go, and fall in love again and again and again, just like life is meant to be.
