A couple days ago Blue, Mabel and I completed our first and the oldest long distance trail in America! WOOT! We were glad to complete the trail and we enjoyed Vermont very much. It was definitely a challenge and entering Massachusetts felt like a dream come true. Along the way we picked up a new friend named Blondie and Sherpa decided to slow down a bit so we finished Vermont without her. Our first and highest mountain in Massachusetts was Greylock and it was also probably one of the most inspiring hikes of the trail.
The approach to Greylock was steep but we cut it into pieces by staying at a shelter half way up the mountain the night before we summited. The trail the next day was very pleasant though when we reached the summit on Monday morning it was shrouded in a dense cloud. We found the Ranger station and then ate a delicious breakfast in the summit lodge. There I met a very kind woman who worked there and she gave me free coffee. After I ate I was inspired by the hike and coffee to do some writing, so we sat for at least an hour while I wrote and Blondie and Blue did some reading. I finished and we started the trek down the mountain. On the way down I couldn’t help but stop and write every 20 or 30 minutes. The weather had cleared up and it was a delightful 60 degrees and sunny. The trail down was as beautiful as any I have seen on the AT or Long Trail.
I found out later when we were staying with a kind Trail Angel named Tom Lavarti, in Dalton, MA; that told us Herman Melville was inspired to write Moby Dick on top of Greylock due to its whale like shape. I too found the mountain inspiring and as I walked it seemed as though I was writing in my head. In order for my mind to move on and let it go I would kept my journal close at hand and stopped and wrote. Below is some of what I wrote. Take note that I am writing to myself more than some other audience. I am often keenly aware of the multiplicity of personalities jockeying for position in my mind. I often will say to myself “let’s go.” Or “stop that!” As if there is someone other than myself who I am ordering around. The entries below are an example of that type of banter and giving myself advise as much as making recommendations to anyone else. As before unedited for your enjoyment.
Comforts
Brother, listen to me
Throw off your bag
And leave these “comforts” behind
For they are no comfort at all
They are anchors
That tether you to the shore
There are crimson skies and
Orange sunsets and
Vast Beautiful Jungles
Waiting for you
Don’t sweat and struggle to be free
And all the while hold onto the ropes
Let go
Be free
And be comforted
Mabel
I see the universe peering through her eyes
Two lenses that look out at the horizon
The universe, gazing at itself
I see her pause and suddenly
I hear peace ringing in my ears
All sounds and time die away
There is nothing and everything all at once
She sits looking, delighting and
I can feel the breath that she tastes
Gently with her nose in my nostrils
Her vocabulary is as a 3 year old
Her intellect, her awareness,
Is as mature as the mountains
She is peace itself and
She brings peace to me freely and
At the lowest cost
Luxury
Luxury and time are as intoxicating as any cocktail
Sip at them and
Don’t guzzle them down till
You are drunk and don’t understand your words
Don’t spend your life on couches
So fluffy that you cant feel the earth holding you up
It might end your life early
Don’t spin round starring down at the clock
So that when you try to escape
You stumble drunkenly and fall
Your eyes blurring everything you see
All things filtered through your goggles filled with
the clutter of furniture and the
Racket of the second hand
Instead taste them only and
Let your cheeks get pink once in a while and
Share the merriment
So your fellows are all smiles
Be watchful that you do not give them too much so that
They spew it onto your shirt or
Dream forever
Never tasting life
Roast Beef
Plans are roast beef
When overdone
A piece leaves the eater
Chewing and chewing
Till all the flavor is sucked out
Still to tough to swallow
Till he gives up and
Swallows HARD
Nearly choking
Then he promptly cuts another bite
For he planned to eat the whole plate
Whizzened
200 feet from the trail
Tree to tree
Town to town
State to state
Country to country
After all these miles I have decided that home is somewhere just above the penis.
Judgement
I have noticed myself becoming more judgmental on the trail. Hikers approach me with their heads full of noxious gas and they sputter and burp it at me till I am sick and dizzy with he fumes glued to my nose and tongue. Empty words made poison by their meaningless intention.
Perhaps it is good that I am being thus exposed. Perhaps one day I will realize that it was I that inhaled it and made myself sick. One day I will be able to hold my breath till they have deflated, and being their right size, see their smiling faces and not their bloated cheeks.
Soon we will be in Connecticut and then New York but also I am now contemplating a new side adventure. Blue and I are planning to try and make our way to Chicago and back in about a week. He has a wedding and I have some good friends there and am excited about trying to get there for free. Hopefully it will be a brief side trip so we can continue our journey. Mabel will not be joining us. She will likely stay in the area with a friend and I will see her soon. Our next stop is listed below. I doubt there is time to get a package there but I will post our jump off point soon.
James Puckett
C/O General Delivery
Gaylordsville, CT 06755
Please hold for AT hiker
ETA 9/15/2013
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