So what were my thoughts along the trail? First of all, the first day was pretty rough on me. The trail was harder then I expected, and a lot of that difficulty was mental. Standing on one peak I would look accross to the next, and it would be towering, and I would think wow, there is no way I am getting up that one. However the trails were good, and I found that if I focused on what was right in front of me instead of the peak that was looming, I didn’t have any problems. This made me think that this was like life. There are goals I have for my life that seem daunting, but if you focus on what needs to be done here and now, eventially the big milestones will be reached. Rome was built with one small step or a journey of a thousand miles isnt taken in a day. Something like that.

So another thing i was very thankful for was how the Lord guided my steps. There were three times when I especially felt that guidance. One time he wacked me in the head with a sharp stick hard enough to stop and turn around and realize I was off the trail. Another time I came up to the edge of a cliff, and the trail seemed to just end. After taking in the amazing view then I started to push through what seemed to be the end of the trail, but a copperhead was coiled up on a rock right in front of me. I backed off a few steps, and realized that the trail leading up to the cliff was a side trail and that if i went back a few more steps I would be back on the regular trail. A final time I really felt the Lords guidance was when I was leaving the trail to go to the top of Celo Knob. I started down one route to the top, but after I had gone a little ways the route wasn’t looking like such a good one. I then realized that I forgot to set a waypoint for where I had left my pack. I stopped and was trying to decide if it was worthwhile going back or if I should just push on to the top. Normally I would just push on to the top because i hate backtracking. However I looked down at my GPS and just as I did a warning flashed on it that the batteries were low. I turned right around and headed back to my pack to change the batteries, set a waypoint where I left my pack, and take a new route to the top. I was very thankful for taking a new route, because it turned out the new route was actually a trail and the ascent to the top was easily accomplished. All three of these guidances were just me responding to the circumstances around me. Its not like I looked up to heaven and asked God for a sign. This made me think about how God guides us through life, not by talking directly to us, but by architecting circumstances so that we are taken care of.

Another thought was on Thursday evening with regard to water. Like I said before I wasn’t dying of thirst or anything, but I really love water, and when i drink it I like to drink a lot. Now as it turned out I would be at a creek by lunch time the next day, and I had plenty of water for breakfast, but I didn’t know that, so I was thinking I needed to skimp. God knew not only my needs but my desires, and he decided that I didn’t need to skimp Thursday morning. He also put the ideas into my head to catch the water. I was so thankful and was praising Him when it started to rain. I guess the lesson for this is ask and you will receive. If a boy asks for a loaf of bread from his father will his father give him a scorpian? How much more does our Father in heaven enjoy answering our prayers.

Another thought that came to me is when I was climbing on Thursday. Thursday morning it was very foggy, so you couldn’t see anything beyond maybe 20 or 30 feet ahead of you. I was very much enjoying the crest trail, but I prayed “Lord, I am so thankful for being out here, and I am having a fabulous time. I am not saying that you have to do this for me to be happy, but if it would make me even happier if you would clear up some of this fog so that I can apreciate this crest and the views it provides.” Now I am not going to claim that within 10 minutes the fog lifted, but with a couple of hours it did, and it remained clear all afternoon, and into the evening, so that I really could fully appreciate all of the views.

One things that kept my head occupied while I was up there were these songs that kept comming to me. When a song comes to me and i am walking or running then some piece of the song will go through my head over and over. The funny thing was that lots of these songs just happened to do with walking. Here are a few that I remember were in my head “these boots were made for walking”, “if I could walk 500 miles”, rambling man, a couple songs by Keane, one which goes like this:

I walked across an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand.
I felt the earth beneath my feet,
Sat by the river and it made me complete.

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

I came across a fallen tree,
I felt the branches of it looking at me.
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

So if you have a minute why don’t we go,
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything.
So why don’t we go, somewhere only we know,
Somewhere only we know.

And there were more songs which i can’t think of now because I have Keane in my head. If I remember more I will add them here.

Another thing that I was thinking about when I had reached the end of the Crest Trail and I was bumming around Burnsville with my pack. I managed to hitch a few rides and I was feeling very hippy. One thing this made me think was how neat it would be to backpacking Europe from Hostel to Hostel, either bumming rides or doing public transportation. Another thing this made me think of was how we look on those folks walking along the street with their thumb out. Both of the people that picked me up were underprivaledged people. Although they were not blessed with much, they were very willing to give and share the little they had. All those big fancy SUVs that passed me, they had very much, but they were not willing to give anything. Its a lesson to me, and I will think twice before drving past some dude with his thumb out.

The lesson above also had me thinking about how need corelates to peoples level of socialness. When I am in a city or a store or settings where strangers have the opportunity to talk, often I will just go about my business, get what I need done, and keep my interaction with the people around me to the minimum. However when I have a need or there is the potential for a need, I don’t hesitate to talk to those around me and be more social. Along the trail I struck up a conversation with a couple of the other hikers just to see if they were doing daytrips or what. In town I talked to several strangers at the gas station, asking around about where there is an ATM. I guess there is a selfishness in me that only reaches out to strangers when I need something for myself. However once I am reaching out to those around me I always apreciate those moments of conversation. So maybe I need to change and be more social with strangers all of the time, rather then just when need demands that I be more social.

Well there were other thoughts, and if I think of them then I will share, but for now I dont remember. I hope that the contents of my head have not been too boring!