Paradox
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- May 29, 2006
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Pretty much on a whim, I called Franklyn late Saturday evening and asked if he wanted to hike a Vermont mountain or two on Sunday. He said, yes I’ll be there. Franklyn has been a good friend since high school, but I hadn’t seen him or his family in about 10 years. He lives in Plattsburgh, New York which is about 4 hours away from me in Central New Hampshire. We decided to do Mt Abraham and Mt Ellen South to North, with spotting my car at the AP Gap trailhead and taking his car south to Lincoln Gap.
In high school and college we had gone hiking and backpacking several times in the east and in Colorado. Our lives diverged somewhat as we got married and moved to different parts of the country. He was a capable engineer who retired very young when he married Judy a successful professional and effectively became a househusband. Now their lives and expectations of life have changed, and things are not going so well. Principally, he found that before marriage Judy had wanted to do all the typically “guy” stuff like hiking, biking, backpacking, competitive sailing and competitive bicycling, but had no experience. Now twenty years later she is finding she doesn’t have much interest in those things and has other interests. This frustrates him greatly, and he is in a situation that he cannot control anymore, and is holding on to all his past expectations.
I took my girlfriend at the time (and now my wife of twenty two years) competitive sailing on one of our first dates, and hiking up Mt. Pierce after a few months. I learned early on that she has little interest in sailing and no interest in hiking. I gave up any expectations for her on these two activities very early. Sue and I are so compatible in so many other aspects to life: particularly how we relate to others, who we like and dislike, and how we solve problems, so that our individual avocations are not that important to each other. We give each other time to pursue our own interests, and so Sunday I could go Vermont.
I seldom hike with other humans, and so yesterday I found that you have several unfettered hours when you can listen to the difficulties we humans find ourselves in, and not have to worry about anything else. Hiking does not require the concentration of competitive events, or creative endeavors. You can think and react in your own good time. Hence, we may be the only two people to have to bushwhack while following such a heavily used trail as the Long Trail.
When we were paying attention: the Long Trail is very nice with easy to moderate grades and relatively dry from Lincoln Gap north to Mount Ellen. There was a lot of clouds/fog in the Champlain Valley through most of Sunday. Views to the east were much more clear. We got a great view of the Camel’s Hump from the Mad River Glen Ski Shelter. We missed where the trail enters the trees to the West when descending from the summit of Ellen and ended up bushwhacking a tough 0.2 miles from one of the ski slopes to the ridge. The remaining three+ miles to AP Gap is very muddy in spots even though it hasn’t rained for a week. The deepest nastiest mud-hole is about a quarter mile from AP Gap affording the dogs one last opportunity to get wet and filthy just before jumping in the car. 10.8 miles, eight hours 5 minutes, nice walk with an old friend, and two very happy silly dogs. Abraham was 49/67 and 57/100, and Ellen was 50/67 and 58/100.
pictures
In high school and college we had gone hiking and backpacking several times in the east and in Colorado. Our lives diverged somewhat as we got married and moved to different parts of the country. He was a capable engineer who retired very young when he married Judy a successful professional and effectively became a househusband. Now their lives and expectations of life have changed, and things are not going so well. Principally, he found that before marriage Judy had wanted to do all the typically “guy” stuff like hiking, biking, backpacking, competitive sailing and competitive bicycling, but had no experience. Now twenty years later she is finding she doesn’t have much interest in those things and has other interests. This frustrates him greatly, and he is in a situation that he cannot control anymore, and is holding on to all his past expectations.
I took my girlfriend at the time (and now my wife of twenty two years) competitive sailing on one of our first dates, and hiking up Mt. Pierce after a few months. I learned early on that she has little interest in sailing and no interest in hiking. I gave up any expectations for her on these two activities very early. Sue and I are so compatible in so many other aspects to life: particularly how we relate to others, who we like and dislike, and how we solve problems, so that our individual avocations are not that important to each other. We give each other time to pursue our own interests, and so Sunday I could go Vermont.
I seldom hike with other humans, and so yesterday I found that you have several unfettered hours when you can listen to the difficulties we humans find ourselves in, and not have to worry about anything else. Hiking does not require the concentration of competitive events, or creative endeavors. You can think and react in your own good time. Hence, we may be the only two people to have to bushwhack while following such a heavily used trail as the Long Trail.
When we were paying attention: the Long Trail is very nice with easy to moderate grades and relatively dry from Lincoln Gap north to Mount Ellen. There was a lot of clouds/fog in the Champlain Valley through most of Sunday. Views to the east were much more clear. We got a great view of the Camel’s Hump from the Mad River Glen Ski Shelter. We missed where the trail enters the trees to the West when descending from the summit of Ellen and ended up bushwhacking a tough 0.2 miles from one of the ski slopes to the ridge. The remaining three+ miles to AP Gap is very muddy in spots even though it hasn’t rained for a week. The deepest nastiest mud-hole is about a quarter mile from AP Gap affording the dogs one last opportunity to get wet and filthy just before jumping in the car. 10.8 miles, eight hours 5 minutes, nice walk with an old friend, and two very happy silly dogs. Abraham was 49/67 and 57/100, and Ellen was 50/67 and 58/100.
pictures
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