Hiking the Neighborhood

An evening walk can be a remarkably calming and even therapeutic event. I especially enjoy walking in the dark, because in the summer it is cooler and in the winter it may be your only option with the sun setting so early. Morning walks? Occasionally, but in general I find getting up to do anything that isn't mandatory to be a challenge, so I am confined to after work and weekends to pursue exercise.

The act itself is magical, in my book. Surrounded by darkness and quiet except for the occasional door slamming or dog barking, I walk with my senses slightly heightened but my mind free to contemplate. Once in a while you pass another night-walker, perhaps a man out with his dog or a group of teens walking in a pack from house to house, or a lone jogger who breathes by in a split second of recognition.

It's mostly smooth walking, be it concrete sidewalks or the occasional foray on to the asphalt street. You can get in to a rhythm with your steps, your breathing, even your thoughts as you move along effortlessly, not worrying about the uneven terrain of a trail but with a thought or two about the upended sidewalk block or the carelessly left behind child's toy that can wreak havoc on your ankle or foot.

A neighborhood walk has some advantages:  such as you are already there so no drive time to add in to your busy day and no special equipment is needed. If you get cold, wet or dirty it doesn't really matter since your destination is home and presumably you can get clean and warm as soon as you return.

The experts claim great health benefits from a brisk walk and I can attest that the mental health benefits are outstanding. Many an issue has been worked out in my brain during a long walk in the neighborhood.

In future posts I will talk about walking vs hiking. You could argue the relative advantages of walking vs hiking and perhaps even try to convince me that taking a walk is "less than" in terms of training. I would counter by saying that doing something is better then nothing!

If you don't walk, try it! If you are already a hiker, don't look down on hiking's kinder and gentler option ... you may find yourself feeling calmer, stronger and fitter by simply stepping out the front door.

Ferocious Feline from the Hiker's POV

This story involves a suburban MetroPark just outside of Dayton OH. Hills and Dales MetroPark to be precise. Wedged in between luxury houses and a golf course, this strip of woods offers a fairly challenging hike with some nice views. This is not a back-country kind of trail.

We were on a routine training mission on a warm fall evening. The sun was rapidly disappearing behind the line of trees to our west. We flicked on headlamps and kept moving along the wide smooth trail.

BT was leading the way about ten feet in front of me when there was an explosion of fur and commotion at her feet. She jumped. I jumped. In the dim light I tried to make out what was happening. A possum? A dog? Some sinister backwoods beast bent on our destruction?

Our headlamp beams converge on a single part of the trail. On that trail stands our attacker: a small gray housecat.

Cute as a button with perky ears, bright eyes, soft well-maintained fur and a jaunty harness complete with tags that identify him as a MetroParks cat.

He travelled with us for quite some time, following his own unique hiking pattern: fall behind while investigating some curiousity, then run past us right at our feet, then lead for a while at our pace until another curiosity caught his eye. 

A hiking cat! Who also seemed to be using using us for playful target practice. Or is it something more? 

So I asked him to write his story ... and that was what you read in the previous post.

He was dubbed a number of names over the few times we encountered him.  "Bear" the housecat because he lives in the woods. Various takes on Hiking Cat. We finally settled on Ferocious Feline, because he was so intent on stalking us and trying to scare people by leaping out at them from the trail's edge.

Of course he is not truly ferocious. One father and son hiking duo approached us coming the other way on a day we had not seen our furry friend. The son asked if we had seen the cat that jumped out of the bushes and "almost gave my dad a heart attack!" It's fun to be there at the beginning of a legend which will no doubt ebb and flow as different people encounter the cat and their reactions are passed on. The Mystery Cat of Hills and Dales or the MetroPark Killer Kitty depending on individual levels of drama are all possible iterations of the critter we have dubbed Ferocious Feline.

I just hope he is having fun and stays safe. His personality is such one can tell he is used to being around people, and his health and condition tell me he has a safe place to stay, probably indoors. I like to think he has his fun running the trails and can retire at night to his warm bed next to a fireplace, a big bowl of food and a big bowl of water just off to the side and a litter box not too far away, and nearby, some humans to refill the love and attention he is sharing on our trails.

A MetroPark Encounter

It was the early part of a beautiful fall evening when I left the house to go out and stretch my legs. I wandered past the lawn and through the gate. The trail to the MetroPark beckoned; despite being littered with noisy dried leaves I was able to walk through without making hardly any noise.

I trotted along the trail. It smelled of fresh pine and wood chips and occasional wafts of smoke from campfires and grills. I heard the scampering of mice. I heard a deer off in the woods over to my left. I heard cars rumbling by on the road. 

I wasn't sure what my goal was that evening. I thought about walking over to the playground but there was another game I was interested in. I wasn't sure I'd be able to play tonight because it requires other players. It was always so random whether I got to do this or not. I followed the trail a few hundred yards towards what was always a good spot. In a few minutes I could hear the footsteps of what sounded like two people coming up the trail. Perfect.

I crouched low, quietly wedging my body in to a thicket of bushes. Listening quietly, I sat there and waited. I was poised and ready. I sensed a vibration in my limbs, the pounding of my heart deep inside of my chest, and I felt adrenaline coursing through my body as I waited for my prey. Each step closer I felt my senses becoming sharper: I could hear better, I could see better, I could smell their every move and I could taste them under my breath. Waiting is so intense, trying to figure out the timing and the element of surprise so you can get the drop. It's amazing how exciting this can be.  Trying to stay absolutely still and giving the prey absolutely no clue that you're waiting for them. I would guarantee you that these two people coming up the trail had no idea that I was there.

They were getting so close I could hear not just the footsteps but I also could hear the brush of the fabric and the creaking of the leather shoes and the metallic clink of keys in a pocket. I could hear her hair blowing gently as she walked and I could smell her perfume. They were talking back and forth in hushed tones. This was perfect, they had no defenses up and no idea that I was laying in wait for them. 

I timed it perfectly - springing out of the bush with all the energy I could muster. The woman screamed and jumped, startling the man who caught her as she stumbled backwards. 

I thought I had them for a moment but suddenly they were making their way back down the trail. I pretended to be disinterested for a minute until they got far enough away to feel comfortable that they were safe. With a spring and a mighty leap I ran until I got right on them, I even tapped one on the leg. Shooting past, I turned around to look to see what effect my attack had on the prey. They kept walking!

Suddenly I realized my prey was escaping. They were reaching the edge of my territory or at least the part where I couldn't go any further without feeling unsafe. I don't like to get too far away from home because it sometimes feels dangerous out here.

A quick dash to get in front and I turned to block the path.  I was getting ready to make my move when one of them reached over and rubbed the top of my head and said, "Hey Kitty what are you doing out here this time of night?"

I decided to play along, sooner or later they would lose focus and then I would pounce. 
 

They scratched my ears and petted me and played with my harness and tags, holding a brief conversation about where I lived and then they headed off down the trail.  That is when I realized I was going to let them go. I technically had captured them but I had no interest in another meal tonight.

I retraced my steps back to the house, pushed though the little swinging door, lapped up some water from the bowl, then curled up in my bed.  There will be another hunt, another opportunity for prey for me to pounce on.  Because the ferocious feline would be back.


 Tomorrow. 

When your blog needs a Reboot

I am the worst blogger ever. 

I can easily blame my changes in jobs, extended trips (which are fodder for this very blog), trying to catch up on long-neglected housework, caring for the ferrets, or a hundred other distractions.  But that is disengenous, since every one of you has your own list of things that eat up your day. 

Considering the title of this blog and my long-term intentions, it is time to apply my own Reboot process to my writing and get serious about keeping Reboot, Select Adventure current, fun, topical and at the least:  updated!

You reboot your computer when you get stuck.  If nothing is working right and you can't get anything done, sooner or later you have to pull the plug and start over. 

I hate getting advice from people who have already made it where they need to be. What worked for them may not work for you or for me.  Cookie-cutter solutions sound good at first but applying someone else's plan to you life sounds like a recipe for disaster.  My goal with Reboot, Select Adventure is to inspire you to look at your life and see if you need to make changes. I am mid-stream in the process, arguably just beginning after so many years.  This way you get to see my successes, my failures, my ups, my downs, and generally walk alongside me as I make my journey.  Will I inspire?  Of course, even if I fail miserably you will still walk away with some ideas of what NOT to do! 

I have collected many great stories over the past years and I look forward to sharing them with you. My goal is to post every Wednesday a new adventure or a new insight or at least a pageful of words. 

Teases: 

Trail magic
Riding the Rollercoaster
Is any hike a "scrub hike"? 
Glamping
Hiking the neighborhood
And much more!

I am committed to using this change of life as an opportunity to continue rebooting my life ... and there is no doubt that I am heading towards some kind of adventure.  Please join me each week!

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.

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.

Redefining a blog

How do you define adventure?

It started for me with the Appalachian Trail trip last summer; a perfect example of an adventure and this blog was started to help me explore the preparation, the trip itself, and my personal reflections on what I learned about myself throughout the entire experience.   During the process of documenting this I suddenly stopped writing and it took a while to figure out why.  Perhaps it was a lack of momentum, time commitments and phases of life, even sheer laziness and lack of commitment.   But there was more ....

I began to see adventure as more than a single trip.  This sentiment echoed through the writing and became more apparent each day-- that I was not going to come to any revelation from this trip except for one idea that kept bouncing around in my head:  I still have a lot to learn!

The real adventure for me is not what I have done, even though there are some great stories that I shared and more to come.  The excitement comes from the unexplored, the anticipation of "what's next?" and what it takes to get there.  I saw the concept of Reboot, Select Adventure take on a life of its own and grow into something bigger than the concept of personal growth through select outdoor experience.  I was living something that was different than I had ever experienced and I got caught up in the moment --forgetting to document it and share it with you.  That is easily rectified, though I am still wading across this river with no far shore in site.

I have new adventures from the winter to share, and adventures planned for this summer that are completely new to me as well as  others that will be more familiar but hopefully will come with challenges, twists, and a new set of highs and lows. Each decision I make right now is carefully considered to ensure that I am finding ways to select adventure over routine.  It's not perfect but I hope that as you take this journey with me the questions I raise will help you find your own personal path, and the answers we are all seeking come to us as we need them.


As I write this I recall that I should be on the trail right now but a series of events conspired to pull me off the AT and put me on a new path.  I will never know if it was a good decision, but it's a decision that was made and in that moment it opened up new opportunities that will become the next set of stories for June and July. 

Stick around and look for new entries on Sunday and Wednesday nights, as I round out the AT stories from last summer, talk about my experiences this winter, and very soon I will start documenting my next big thing.