Going back to Appalachia

Once again, my brother and I are going back to the Appalachian Trail for another week long hike. Well, we'll see if it's actually a week long hike. Usually it doesn't last that long. We're hiking in June this year, which is about a month and a half earlier than usual. I can't miss work in August as that's the busy time. That means I have only a month and a half to prepare. Fortunately, there's a great facility at my work that's free. I started working out on Thursday and then went again on Friday. I started by running as I've always enjoyed that. I ran 3/4 of mile both days on the inside track. I also used one of the machines to strengthen my legs. I was really aching yesterday, but am feeling okay today. I plan to get to the Linder Trail near my home too, and hike with the backpack as I've done in previous years. It's nothing like hiking the AT, but it's as close to it as I can get in Iowa. I also do exercises to strengthen my knees; otherwise they have a tendency to lock up on me.

Why do I keep going back?

Probably because it's the one way that I have to test myself physically. My life is filled with a lot of sitting around. I sit at work. I sit at home writing or doing other work for Dreamwell. I sit and watch way too much TV. We live in a sedentary society. This hike affords me the opportunity to stretch myself physically. I could do a lot of simpler activities, I suppose, like join a volleyball league or go to the swimming pool a lot. But those are easy things and I'd rather do something really difficult. It's just the way I am.

And besides the land is so beautiful there. You can almost forget that we've transformed this amazing green world into a mess of iron and steel.