End of the First Week; A Backpacking Pilgrimage

 

One of the disciplines my program requires of us as we went into our dissertation writing was to create a rule of life to guide us through the writing process. A part of this rule of life included a plan for selfcare and for participation in spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. I appreciate that the seminary is not merely concerned with us completing our degree, but also helps us to not do so at the expense of our personal or spiritual well-being.

As an act of pilgrimage, and self-care, this past weekend I went backpacking with my dear friend Melissa. An activity I included in my rule of life, although it is something I would have done either way. Nine years ago, Melissa and I decided that we would go backpacking for the first time. Every year since then, except 2020 and last year when she had COVID and I had a concussion we have headed into the woods with everything we needed for three days and have come out two to three days later. . . mostly intact. The first year it seemed like a crazy, wild thing for the two of us to do. But now we know what we need to do to prepare, each of us know our roles in the preparation process and what we are supposed to bring. Outside of a phone call in which we each confirmed what was going into our packs as we each packed them; we really did not need much communication on what each of us needed to bring.

Things were a little different this year. Usually we conduct a through hike, we enter the woods at one point and exit at another, either bringing two cars one at each end or leaving one and then arranging for a drop off or pick up to save gas and allow us to travel to and from the trip together. This year we entered and exited at the same location. This was also the first year we have hiked in Massachusetts. Every year before we had hiked in Vermont. To be precise we hiked along section of the Long Trail (LT) in Vermont, along the path in which it coincides with the Appalachian trail (AT). Since we were in Massachusetts this year, this means we were not hiking the LT/AT this year, but simply the AT.

All those are minor differences between this year’s trip and all the other trips we have taken previously. The big difference was that we backpacked two miles in, and set up a “base camp.” From there we went on a two, day hikes, without our 25 pound packs, merely carrying day packs, containing the food and water we needed for a short hike instead of the “everything” with which we had hiked in. So, a few pounds each instead of the whole 25. This is called slack packing, something we had never done before.

On Saturday morning we parked our car in an AT parking lot in North Adams, MA. North Adams is a lovely little Massachusetts mountain town, which is home to artists co-ops and MCLA, a small liberal arts college, to which my eldest applied but chose not to attend (choosing instead to attend MassArt). Once we had our packs on and our boots properly laced, we put our backs to Mt Greylock which was to our south, the tallest mountain in MA. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we did not want to have anything to do with that crowded mountain, which is a favorite of day hikers and were instead heading north, to hike up the smaller and less spectacular East Mountain.

Although two miles would take no time, if we were walking around the city, two miles, on a trail that heads steadily up a mountain with packs on the backs of two middle aged women, who although being experienced backpackers are not in “backpacking” condition, since we only go once a year and had not actually been on the trail for two. It took us a couple hours to get to our planned camping location, which was a designated campsite with two tent platforms and a privy. We chose one of the two platforms on which to set up camp, but ended up moving in the morning because we could not stand the distinct smell of urine near our tent. either it was in exactly the wrong proximity to the privy or its previous resident did not see fit to go all the way to privy making his own privy directly off the side of the platform.

Once we had set up camp and loaded up day packs with water and food, we continued our hike up East Mountain, enjoying the views from the top and continued to the MA/VT border, where we rested, took pictures and said, “Hello.” To our old friend the Long Trail.

Two things I was not prepared for when it came to slack packing, the first was how glorious it felt to head out from the camp with only a day pack on my back. It felt like nothing. I felt free. We could move more easily and hike so much faster. Although at times either of us or both of us would maneuver around or under over something, as if we had a large 25-pound pack on our backs. This always ended in us erupting into gleeful laugher when we realized that the careful moves one takes when hefting around everything you need for three days, are completely unnecessary and a little ridiculous when only carrying a day pack. We hiked quickly, enjoying the beauty of the world around us, as well as the feeling of literally having the weight of the weekend removed from our shoulders.

Not only does the lack of weight allow for quicker easier hiking, but because we were able to hike quicker, we were never at risk of not covering the required number of miles to make it to a planned camping location. Although we hiked more miles that first day, than we had ever covered on a first day of hiking, we still made back to camp with more than enough daylight to make dinner and relax before we lost the light and turned in. In years previously there were times when we overestimated the number of miles we could comfortably cover in a day and had been racing the sun to get to a place we could set up camp. Not once this whole weekend did, we feel as if we needed to push on when we were struggling, or that we could not stop as long as we liked to enjoy a view, or eat a snack. Knowing that we were heading “home” at the end of the hike allowed us some amount of leisure. Although we were hiking faster than we usually did, we went faster while taking our time. When your burden is lighter you are able to take your time and are still able to cover more ground.

The second thing which caught us off guard, was what it felt like to hike up to the beginning of the LT greet it and walk away. When you are backpacking, the trail with its blazes, become a second companion. For seven backpacking trips the white blazes of the AT/LT (both use the same white blaze to mark their trial) had marked a friendship we had with this trail which I had not quite realized. Prior to approaching the border, we had taken a side trail up around the top of East Mountain to a lovely lookout location and then back to the AT. Along that trail we followed blue blazes, as soon as we turned, I noted them, thinking how strange, we have never purposely turned away from the white blazes, in favor of blazes of any other color. This was the first time I made note of how it felt to be hiking a different path.

Since AT uses the same white blaze as the LT/AT, even once we had rejoined the AT, I had not noticed the absence of my friend the Long Trail, until I greeted her and then left her behind. When we chose to not continue along the LT, for this trip, concluding the LT would take us further and further from home, meaning that we would end up spending too much of each trip traveling to and from the trail, cutting into our actual trail time, I did not anticipate missing the idea of being on the Long trail and missing her as a companion but I did, and was a little sad, as we turned our backs to her and headed back to camp the were already calling, “home.”

The interesting thing about greeting the trail and turning back was that we had actually never seen the beginning of the LT before. We had begun our first hike that first year a few miles north of the MA/VT border and headed north toward Glastonbury Mt, the trail between the place we had put our car that first year and the VT/MA border was unknown to us. When we said, “Goodbye,” to our friend and headed back south, we decided that we would see her again. Next year, we would put our car in the same lot we had put it that first year, put our backs to Glastonbury and join our friend and come back to the MA/VT border, so we could say that we had walked with the whole length of the trail during which the AT/LT are joined.

The second day, we did a loop hike up around Pine Cobble. We enjoyed a beautiful, although difficult, hike which began and ended with us sitting on the rocks of a cobble, enjoying the sun, the breeze and the local wildlife. It was a lovely leisurely hike, which brought us back to camp several hours sooner than I thought it would, and yet we enjoyed the relaxing pace of the day and did not feel the need to invent more hiking than we had planned.

On the final day, we packed everything up, put all 25 pounds minus the food we had eaten back on our backs and headed down the mountain. When we reached our car we cleaned ourselves up, put on fresh clean clothes, did our best to not look and smell like we had been in the woods all weekend and went in search of brunch, which we found in the lovely little town of Shelburne Falls, after which we joined the Labor Day crowds and walked along the Bridge of Flowers, which along with a glacier pothole falls, is Shelburne Fall’s claim to fame. After which we ended our pilgrimage by heading home.

Although backpacking involves many hours of talking, as well as many hours of silence, allowing both Melissa and I to internally and verbally process what is going on in our lives and although this trip allowed me to process quite a lot having to do many things in my life, as well as my dissertation, I think I will leave processing all that for another day.