Wrecked my legs on a hike.

[jason370]

MTSpace said:

More than 30 of the 14ers — that's incredible! What a remarkable path you've traveled. There's so much to appreciate, since you've accomplished what 99.9% of us humans wouldn't even imagine doing.

These old bones have covered some ground, though nowhere close to your level. Still, I'm thankful: I've trekked in South America, the Alps across 3 different countries, more than 20 US National Parks, Canada, and Alaska in 2027.

Sadly, as the years pile up I keep having to dial things back, but at 58 I still manage more than most people ever will. Plenty of wonderful memories.

Whenever someone asks which hike was my favorite, I feel lucky to say there have been so many outstanding ones that I can't even trim the list to a top 25. Sometimes it comes down to the weather, who you're with on the trail (my father, my oldest son, a new friend met on the path), the surroundings, your mindset and what you expected the trail to be, an encounter with wildlife, the memory of pushing through hardship, and so on. I'm sure you understand. There's no way to choose just one trail, one hike, one memory.

At 56, I'm getting into shape with the goal of starting jiu-jitsu. My daughter is on the mats 6 days a week and competes often, and I made her a promise that I'd join her; if nothing else goes wrong, I should be ready by the end of summer. A few points you raised are worth echoing:

1. Gratitude: Religion isn't really my thing, yet each morning I wake up feeling happy and thankful for my circumstances and for who I am, honestly. Whether it's justified or not, I consider myself very lucky; especially because I have the best kid imaginable, but also, strangely enough, because of my health. Even the pain in my legs right now is a reminder of how fortunate I am to have them. It's Memorial Day, and countless soldiers would have given anything to feel nothing worse than sore legs instead of making the incredibly selfless sacrifices they did. I feel lucky to live in a country that, while imperfect, is the best there has ever been, with brave soldiers guarding our freedoms, so my family can sleep peacefully at night, never even having to think about the men who will commit violence against our enemies on our behalf in the darkness while we sleep.

2. Enjoying where you are, and who you are with: During the 4 hour drive back from VT today, my daughter said she'd had such a great time hiking, shooting, and randomly meeting people and making friends along the way that she can't decide whether she'd rather do this again first or visit disney world. I asked why, since a 6 hour hike isn't something most kids would want to do, and she replied that it was simply so much fun that the difficulty didn't matter to her (see #1 for why I'm so full of gratitude). I told her that when you do things alongside people you like and enjoy being around, you could do almost nothing at all, or even hard things, and still have the best time, but with the wrong people even the most enjoyable activity turns miserable. pick your friends with care and spend plenty of time with them.

P.s. The first time I saw the Alps (Matterhorn), I felt regret that I had chosen to live in Colorado instead of Switzerland. I had simply had no clue how grand and beautiful they are,

 

[MTSpace]

Sounds like a wonderful thing to share with your daughter. Those times together might be what leads her to blaze her own trails.

The first trip I made to the Alps felt unreal to me. Before going, I'd gone through quite a few books & articles about climbing and hiking Eiger, Matterhorn, and Mount Blanc. Jon Krakauer is the author I like best, and even with all his creativity and expressiveness as a writer, the Alps' beauty can't be captured by any picture or word.

My grandfather served in WWII and was at the Crows Nest the day after the allies took it over. He told me there were 5 places I had to put on my “must travel to” list. Alps #1. The others Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, & Singapore. Singapore is still somewhere I haven't gone, but because he inspired me to make my own history, I've been to many other places.

 

[jason370]

MTSpace said:

Sounds like a wonderful thing to share with your daughter. Those times together might be what leads her to blaze her own trails.

The first trip I made to the Alps felt unreal to me. Before going, I'd gone through quite a few books & articles about climbing and hiking Eiger, Matterhorn, and Mount Blanc. Jon Krakauer is the author I like best, and even with all his creativity and expressiveness as a writer, the Alps' beauty can't be captured by any picture or word.

My grandfather served in WWII and was at the Crows Nest the day after the allies took it over. He told me there were 5 places I had to put on my “must travel to” list. Alps #1. The others Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, & Singapore. Singapore is still somewhere I haven't gone, but because he inspired me to make my own history, I've been to many other places.

Yes, she's practicing "blaze your own trails" every single day, and honestly that's the one thing that matters most to me. The Alps blew me away more than anything else ever has. I had assumed they were comparable to the Rockies - that assumption turned out to be completely off base. After my time living in Colorado, I visited Yosemite, and that park is just extraordinary. I've read and adore all of krakauer's work, though after digging into things carefully, I discovered he embellishes the facts somewhat to craft a stronger narrative. That doesn't bother me, I still cherish his writing, but some invented material is mixed in.

One book that stood out strongly was:

The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest: Penned by guide Anatoli Boukreev, this serves as the authoritative opposing account to Krakauer's book. It offers the identical 1996 disaster timeline through the eyes of a lead guide who later bravely saved multiple clients.

It lacks the entertainment value and polish of Into Thin Air, yet Boukreev's opposing account is captivating, and in my view it's more trustworthy and convincing than what Krakauer wrote. All at once the Russian bad guy becomes the Russian good guy, something that felt counter intuitive back in the 90's.