Gratitude

As I began my ritual hike of McAfees knob, I should have known what lay ahead. Apparently, I had yet to learn a particular lesson. This only dawned on me about a mile in, when I realised my 'new' hiking boots were beginning to give me some hot spots. These 'new' hiking boots had tried to speak to me earlier in life when I was in Maine hiking the 100 mile wilderness, the same shoes I had mailed home because they hurt my feet too much, the same shoes I had on today.

As I grappled with myself whether to continue and suck it up, or have the guts to tell myself it was ok to turn around, without going all the way to the top, my boots began to give me blisters. The hard head in me won, and my feet didn't really hurt that bad (yet), so I continued to the top.

The only problem is, when you get to the top, you have to turn around and walk all the way back. I am still questioning several hours later why I thought it was a good idea to break in my shoes on a short 7 mile hike!

Shortly on my way down the trail, I encountered a gentleman hiking up. We stopped and made small talk, instead of the simple wave or hello. He asked if it was crowded up top and if I was a day hiker. I told him of my past trail adventures and he mentioned his desire to thru hike the trail. He said he had planned to hike this summer but was hit by a car. He then proceeded to tell me that he had just learned how to walk again!

When we parted ways he gave me a new found strength to keep moving and the gratitude for the fact that I even had legs to walk with. So, despite my lessons learned about breaking in new shoes, I was also given the opportunity to experience extreme gratitude. For that, my blisters were worth it.