#89 The Future
New adventures are on the way
Sprawl: An Accidental Section Hiker has been a journal of some of my experiences with friends and family from various points in the past through 2020. There have been many great moments as well as dark ones.
Losses. Gains. Changes. Sadness. Struggles. Trails. Trials. Triumphs.
This collection of writings is part one of a four part series I’m writing as I hike, northbound on the Appalachian Trail, and weave my way through life’s changes.
Part one featured my 2015, 2017, 2019, & 2020 hikes through GA, TN, and NC section of trail.
Part two will feature my 2021 & 2022 hikes through Virginia’s 550 mile section of trail and the few miles that pass through West Virginia, which puts me at the Appalachian Trail’s unofficial half-way point; Harper’s Ferry WV.
Part three will feature a planned 725 mile section hike through MD, PA, NJ, NY, CT, MA, and VT in the spring of 2023.
Part four will feature a planned 442 mile section hike through NH and deep into ME, where the Appalachian Trail ends, in the spring of 2024.
Thank you for journeying with me this far. I hope these trail stories have inspired you to seek adventures of your own. Perhaps they’ve caused you to envision yourself on the trail from your favorite reading spot at home, feeling the dirt and the sweat sticking to your body, hearing the birds and the wind sing their songs through the trees, pushing yourself beyond burning leg muscles, gazing out over vast horizons, inhaling fresh mountain the air, tasting the life-giving water from cool springs and waterfalls, feeling rejuvenated again and again and again.
Thank you for waking with me in dark places while open wounds turned to scars.
I hope you have never experienced anything that has caused you deep wounds, though I’m afraid nearly everyone has something they can point to on some level.
Whether it be a troubled child, a divorce, the death of someone close, drug or alcohol addiction, an accident, betrayal, war, homelessness, or struggling through 2020’s spirit-shattering world of Covid-19 - whatever the issue that has wounded you, my heart truly goes out to you.
I hope you have found healthy ways to heal. I sought only the council of nature, family, friends, and solitude. That may or may not have been wise. We will see in the future how that works out.
*If you believe you need professional help, don’t hesitate to seek it.
Of all the ways we seek to cope with our broken hearts and fractured minds, the main ingredient seems to be time.
Though time may dilute the misery, it may never lead to the symptoms of traumatic experiences completely disappearing.
That’s where so many of us are; wandering in time, longing for peace.
May friends and family and nature and beauty forever surround you.
May light appear somewhere in your darkest nights.
May your deepest wounds fully heal.
May you find your peace.
Jason “Sprawl” Durham