Went for a few hour walk today. But before I pushed off from home I got some shorts on. Love those things. So I think I might wear them more-since it is winter now. I grabbed my backpack too which I also intend to wear more. My walk started out toward the mountains. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get to the mountains and after getting about halfway there I aimed my pitter-patter toward downtown as I walked through palm lined neighborhoods walking parallel with the highway. Ill be honest I felt trapped. By the time I got to crossing the 210 again I was regretting having not gone straight into the mountains. You can see snow from where I am in these mountains and this has me thinking that an adventure needs to be birthed. And by birthed I mean had. And by had I think I just mean walked out.
There is something that happens when you walk it out. You may find yourself dancing to a certain song as you think of ‘walking it out’ but further into your imagination isn’t there a part of you that wants desprately to leave in simplicity walking toward something you just might find by the end of the day? We always discover as we walk. That is why one walks to begin with. Sure it may be to get from A to B but I really didn’t need to go for a walk today nor do I need to walk into the mountains sometime soon but we walk because we wonder a little bit about everything. Everything unknown seem so far away like that snow cap I can see from the road but even as I lean toward that snow cap I am closer to knowing its view, the way it sees the city. I bet that snow cap doesn’t feel trapped like I do. I bet the air is different up there too like the air is in the winter-cold and light. Im feeling warm and heavy and so am looking for some new air to fuel these lungs.
When I got back into town, well I never really left town, but once I was back on the downtown strip I stumbled into a Patagonia store. I walked right over to the books and started looking up trails I could walk right out of town on. Then I saw a Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) guide book. I thought for a second that God was speaking some divine word… “Go and walk the PCT”. But he wasn’t. It has been a while since I have walked distances like that. The PCT is 3,000 miles long. But there is a section of the trail called the John Muir Trail that spans about 260 miles which I think I might do in the next season. You end with summiting Mt. Whitney which is the tallest mountain in the lower 48. Ill have to do some more research but my neighbor has done it and about two years ago I had planned a trip that fell through. I am praying that my neck heals quicker than later so I feel confident in some of the little explorations I have planned this quarter most of which involve walking and riding on things.
