Stories from the Woods: Saddleback Mountain

The following is the story behind a random photo taken on my excursion Northbound through the Appalachian Trail. 

Saddleback Mountain, Maine.

I’ve been lucky in that people haven’t too often asked me what my favorite part of the trek was, because how could I feasibly choose. But this moment is definitely up there with the big, memorable ones.

Rocket and I had hiked out of Rangeley, ME expecting all our friends to be in tow. At the advice of Shaaades, Rocket and Tailgate took a double zero (I only took one zero because I fell behind the day before), which meant we were beyond well rested. Rocket, naturally, was itching to get going. “We gotta go, we gotta crush miles,” was a sentence that oft came out of his mouth.

Alright, alright, let’s go then. The only way to get going is to go. We got a ride from a trail angel and scooted into the woods. Shaaades stayed back to watch the Bears game. Tailgate had to pee, but we expected him to catch up fairly quickly.

At 3pm, we passed a campsite that was full of people who had said they’d be hiking 10 miles instead of 2. “What happened to 10 miles?!” I asked Twodogs. He laughed in response. The temptation of having a chill day was just too great. It was with a heavy heart and even heavier legs that I bid Estus and Twodogs and all the others farewell before hiking on with the miles-crusher.

This actually turned out to be an awesome decision.

In this photo is a guy who’s got a lot to think about, and right behind the photo is a girl who’s laughing about it all. The sun is setting, it’s starting to get cold, like really cold, and camp is still .7mi away.

I think the time you spend with someone out on the Appalachian Trail is special because it reveals little bits of yourself that you normally keep private. We’re in a completely different setting, removed from the usual stressors and judgements that we grew up with. And in this way we grow to become something unique.

I have a lot of thanks to give the electric, over-thinking, hard-working individual in this photo, because he helped me get through some tough personal battles. Actually, he didn’t know he was doing that. He thought he was just hiking and waiting for a friend. But seeing him around the corner, or coming down under the bridge to the river with me, or waiting at the end of the trailhead even after everyone else had left meant the world to me, made the Appalachian Trail feel like home. He and countless others made this place feel like home.

And that’s just a really beautiful thing, perhaps even more beautiful than this sunset. 

So we watched the world get darker, took pictures, and talked about all the things we want to do. We talked about how we don’t feel like we have enough time. Yet here we were, in the endless mountains, watching the sun set.

Really, I think, we had all the time in the world. 

Fly on,

Lil Wayne