The trip is over but the journey continues

After a hiatus to prep, pack and actually go on some adventures I am now back safe and sound with stories to tell and lots of thoughts to ponder.

This is not going to be a travelogue, documenting the step by step daily grind. Face it, that consisted of moving my feet and clocking miles ... not the most interesting stuff.

It's what happens to you and around you that is interesting to me, so as this blog continues it will not be linear in time but will instead be a collection of stories about assorted trips.

I hope you enjoy these tales, ranging from emotional lows to fleeting highs, dangerous moments and inspiring successes, people we met good and bad, and how the people interacted with each other and how I changed from all of the above.

How does this all add up and what happened? Read on ...

Monday, December 15, 2014

Planning Part One

I call this Planning Part One not because I have a sequel already in mind. Nor do I have some extended idea that will require more than one post to flesh out. 

I do expect that there will be more than one of these simply because we are sliding into the pit of winter and one of the fantastic parts of this time of year is figuring out your plans for the upcoming year. 

Some of it is easy: for example my annual April backpacking trip, it is easy to plan and easy to post up on the Meetup site (copy, change dates, post) and the small change I did make to it -  well, I have 4 months to figure it out. I included a mystery day that really does not have any real plan behind it and a dozen or more people signed up for it. Hope I come through!

Other things are easy, I posted about a half dozen day hikes on DaytonHikers.org and any day now I will pull together the money to send to the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure.  That along with dayhikes I have signed up for will get me rolling through about June. 

What is missing is the big adventure. I did not really partake of one this year, not compared to some of the posts you can read here. Poor planning, changing schedules, and a host of other little things conspired to keep me off the trail - not the least was a summer-changing injury that I may describe some day but for now trust me I was not moving well. 

I look forward to firing up the woodstove, grabbing maps and some copies of Backpacking magazine and working through the possibilities for 2015.  The AT? Somewhere else? Finger Lakes Trail is tempting but so is Michigan. A 10 day effort or a couple of long weekends?  Have to slip in at least one trip to Red River Gorge, just because.  The window is open to just about anything, and I promised myself I would get all of this arranged early on so I do not let 2015 slip away like this past year did.  There were opportunities for adventure that I could have taken, perhaps a motorcycle camping trip or a car camping exploration of sites worth seeing ... I let those get away too with busy weekends and chores and work.  Not this year! 

My adventures require planning because I have to work.  I have a generous but not unlimited vacation plan and it does require some thought to shoehorn in everything I want to do in a given year. Still I consider myself lucky to be able to do the things I do. 

So let the snow fall, I will tackle the winter in dribs and drabs with snow hikes and cold runs and too much time in the Rec Center. I will also pour some hot chocolate and sit by that fire and dream of what I can do.  Then all I have left is to make it a reality.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

A Simple Night Out

It was a quick event, far short of an epic adventure.  It took longer to drive there than it did to walk the trails. 

In a quest to capture some Christmas spirit I signed up for a Meetup hike through DaytonHikers.org at a local MetroPark: A Luminary Walk at Aullwood Garden. 

On arrival I met up with the group and for a while we stood in the parking lot, shuffling our feet and chatting.  People introduced themselves and mingled. I knew some of the hikers but not all, my hiatus from hiking has kept me away while the group has added and subtracted members. 

At the designated time we headed into the park and walked along pathways cleverly lined with plastic milk jugs lit with candles inside.  Pitch black otherwise, we walked and talked and traded stories.  After a short while we found ourselves next to the Aullwood house where MetroPark rangers and volunteers were serving cookies and hot chocolate. 

A quick tour of the first floor of this quaint house, a short history lesson, and we were on our way back to the cars. The original group had splintered into many, and as we found our way back to the cars we had our brief "nice to meet you" and "see you again soon" comments and before I knew it I was back on the freeway headed home. 

So why is this short little trip even a part of Reboot, Select Adventure?

It was a good reminder that simple things are important too. A conversation with someone you have never met before. A hot cup of cocoa standing next to a fire burning in a drum. A chance encounter with someone you know who came late but caught up. Watching the kids dashing about, excited about a night out in the woods. A ranger with an expertly told tale about the history of the house and the grounds that momentarily takes you back in time.

It reminded me that in the long run adventures are about people. People you know and people you have yet to meet. What is an adventure without a tale to tell? What good is a tale without someone to tell it to? Plus it was just plain fun. We all were laughing. We all were playing.  We all enjoyed a simple night out.