07-27-2021, 02:23 PM
Conclusion
Showering for the first time in a week was an epic experience. I no longer had the heady musk mixture of Deet and Banana Boat Suntan lotion. As I washed off the accumulated grime, I wondered to myself if I had fun. That’s the question you get asked after you get back from doing something out of the ordinary. “Did you have fun”
Fun doesn’t cover it. It’s too limited a word. I can state categorically that I didn’t have fun. I could all the things that made me uncomfortable during the trek and you would conclude that I had a miserable time. The first day was especially tough. I felt constantly dehydrated. I no longer felt eating. My backpack weighed more than a small child. The hikes up the hills seemed interminable. I could never find a place to sit that was comfortable. The bugs were annoying. Pooping in a cathole and wiping my butt with a leaf was annoying.
But for some reason the inconveniences I experienced barely tipped the scales against the wondrous adventure of it all. I’m too fat and out of shape to backpack that distance. But I did it. I stood in places that the vast majority of people will never stand. I saw bears and deer and dragonflies and too many wildflowers to count. I could dwell on the bad things but the good memories crowd them out. So much so, that a week later I’m already scoping out the trail for a longer hike that climbs over an even taller mountain. My brain categorizes this as an exciting opportunity.
I learned things on this trip that I will apply to the next trip. I might leave a few things behind to lighten my load. I might start my get in shape regimen a little earlier that a week before the trip. Stupid as it sounds, I’m ready to go again.
But it wasn’t fun.
Showering for the first time in a week was an epic experience. I no longer had the heady musk mixture of Deet and Banana Boat Suntan lotion. As I washed off the accumulated grime, I wondered to myself if I had fun. That’s the question you get asked after you get back from doing something out of the ordinary. “Did you have fun”
Fun doesn’t cover it. It’s too limited a word. I can state categorically that I didn’t have fun. I could all the things that made me uncomfortable during the trek and you would conclude that I had a miserable time. The first day was especially tough. I felt constantly dehydrated. I no longer felt eating. My backpack weighed more than a small child. The hikes up the hills seemed interminable. I could never find a place to sit that was comfortable. The bugs were annoying. Pooping in a cathole and wiping my butt with a leaf was annoying.
But for some reason the inconveniences I experienced barely tipped the scales against the wondrous adventure of it all. I’m too fat and out of shape to backpack that distance. But I did it. I stood in places that the vast majority of people will never stand. I saw bears and deer and dragonflies and too many wildflowers to count. I could dwell on the bad things but the good memories crowd them out. So much so, that a week later I’m already scoping out the trail for a longer hike that climbs over an even taller mountain. My brain categorizes this as an exciting opportunity.
I learned things on this trip that I will apply to the next trip. I might leave a few things behind to lighten my load. I might start my get in shape regimen a little earlier that a week before the trip. Stupid as it sounds, I’m ready to go again.
But it wasn’t fun.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm