News from Jules | 08.01.2022 | One at a Time
As soon as she texted me photos and the map—with the best lakeside campsite circled—I wanted to go. I immediately replied with questions about the route, the weather, the bugs…the bears?
Just like before our first hike six weeks ago, my new hiking partner from New York City quickly replied with all kinds of helpful details and links to research from her backpacking trip that weekend. I had been craving deep solitude and nature time, thus eager for a first backpacking trip of the season myself.
I was inspired, but hesitant.
I’m still so new to the area and terrain, there were potential thunderstorms in the forecast, and of course, the probability of bears which I already encountered from afar in June. Plus, my right leg was aching, per many past adventures.
But I’ve learned over the last eight years of backpacking that these are all usually excuses, not reasons, when I am underestimating myself or the universe—or both.
I needed to follow my gut and go for it.
So, I woke up on my day off last Thursday and started packing. As I excitedly pulled out of the Omega Institute parking lot, I realized that I didn’t actually know where the trailhead was—just the general vicinity of the state park about an hour south of Rhinebeck, NY. I quickly cross-referenced the AllTrails map with Google Maps to find a destination nearby.
A quarter-mile from the trailhead was a clear sign: Parking Lot for Equestrian Center Members Only. So, I parked on the road and walked the rest of the way. Confused, I asked one of the equestrians walking out of the stables if there was indeed a trailhead nearby. She pointed me toward the far side of the outdoor riding arena.
The trails here aren’t obvious. Nor are the trailheads apparently.
Just past the white arena fence, I stepped through a small gap in the green bushy perimeter. The first tree I saw was marked with three little tags—white with a red square just like in Candy Land—called trail blazes.
According to Wikipedia: “Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail.”
Kind of like all of the text messages, photos, dropped pins, signs, and pointers that lead me here.
Trailblazing required just enough mindfulness and situational awareness to both get caught up in the moment and stay alert.
Just like Sharon Salzberg has been teaching me in the Ten Percent meditation app:
Mindfulness is the balance between calm and tranquility on the one side and energy and interest on the other. We’re really present and aware and the attention is steady, so we need both relaxation and energy simultaneously.
Just like the “songlines” that Laurance Gonzales described in Deep Survival, a book about who lives, who dies, and why out in the wild. He described how indigenous peoples would stop to notice a tree’s bark here, then pick some berries there, then smell a wildflower over there. Each moment of appreciation on the way forward also memorized a way to backtrack.
As I scampered over the piles of rocks with my heavy pack, I had to stop and look around every few feet instead of mindlessly following an obvious trail of soil. Each time I lost sight of the next blaze, I checked my iPhone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) on the map. Sure enough, I was slightly “off trail.” Each time I turned around and slowly backtracked until my little blue dot was directly on the trail. Once I saw the next blaze ahead, I moved forward.
After I almost stepped in a big pile of blueberry-filled bear poop, I noticed blue drops of juicy blueberry drool literally dotting the rocky trail. I laughed out loud, then turned on some Beyoncé to make sure the bears knew I was there too.
After 15 minutes of heightened alertness and singing out loud, I continued thinking about how true to life these trail blazes were. We don’t need to see the whole trail. We just need to pay attention. And connect the dots. Just follow.
Of course, I think the moments when I got off track were actually when I was thinking. Isn’t it ironic?
Navigation was easier once the trail started skirting the lake, but I still wanted to find the “off trail” spot where my friend had circled the best campsite on the map. Parting some bushes, I followed a path until it opened up to two ideal campsites protected from wind and rain by large rocks and towering trees. She was so right!
Following my gut around the rocks and through more bushes further out onto the peninsula, I then discovered the rocky outcrop with perfect hammock trees and a secluded swimming area just as a couple emerged from the water.
Within the hour, I was sitting around with these two adorable personal trainers from nearby New Jersey—who'd just met at that very spot the month before—smoking cigars and drinking beers while swapping stories about our respective Mt. Hood summit attempts in Oregon. Of all the lakes in New York!
Once they departed, I had the whole lake to myself.
I sensed it was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment.
Discovered one “blaze” at a time.
May you get caught in the moment and stay alert at the same time this week.
Love,
Jules