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In hiking and in life put one foot in front of the other

Posted 7/16/24

In the early days of my backpacking trips I often carried too much gear. We were somewhere in the middle of a multi-day journey near Cranberry Lake. It was hot. I was chafing. It was humid and rainy. …

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In hiking and in life put one foot in front of the other

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In the early days of my backpacking trips I often carried too much gear. We were somewhere in the middle of a multi-day journey near Cranberry Lake. It was hot. I was chafing. It was humid and rainy. The bugs were thick and the misery and exhaustion were thicker.

We’d been in the woods for a night and had greatly reduced our alcohol stores leaving us in a less than ideal state for hauling full wet backpacks up mountains, but there we were easily dozen of miles from rest in either direction.

I wasn’t panicking, but I could see how someone might be. I’ve read and written stories about hikers and backpackers needing rescues and I count myself fortunate to have never been one. But morale was certainly low, conversations had halted and I was left with nothing but my thoughts and the knowledge that the only way out was to put one foot in front of the other.

Have you ever been so tired, worn out and exhausted that it took nearly everything you had to take one more step? That feeling that there is no way you can continue the task at hand and the finish line, whatever it might be feels unattainable.

Thoughts creep into your head offering you a number of reasons or excuses to turn back, or justifications for giving up.

After all, at this point you’ve given it your best shot and you’ve done all you can, except you haven’t.

I’m not sure everyone knows they have an extra gear that allows them to continue pushing on when they think they can’t, but I’m fairly certain we all do once we tap into it.

I was fortunate enough to have found it at around age 12 after picking stones in a dusty field amid sweltering heat with little shade.

To pass time I’d pretend I was on some prison planet in a science fiction tale waiting to plot my escape. Hours would go by as I’d write the story in my head.

It was in this near meditative state of fantasy that I was able to continue my task and keep moving, nearly forgetting completely about the reality I was facing.

Later as I grew, I’d taken on various forms of labor that felt overwhelming, like hoofing endless bundles of shingles up roof ladders or carrying hundreds of trash cans full of roofing debris to dumpsters in scorching summer heat.

They were tasks that felt impossible. Staring at what seemed like an acre of roof on the ground wondering how it can even be physically done, but it could.

I think athletes are probably the first to tap into this extra gear. I’ve certainly seen my friends who spent time in the military use it and I know first hand that farmers and laborers often find it.

I’ve read some amazing stories of survival and nearly every time I think more about what motivates a person to continue on despite impossible odds and it always brings me back to that feeling. Putting that one foot down and moving forward.

When you push past that point, and runners will back me up on this, something happens. The weight begins to ease, your steps begin to sharpen and that second wind takes hold.

You begin to wonder why it was so bad 30 minutes ago and the finish line begins to feel attainable again. Note that this cycle may repeat many times before you finish.

Now while what I’m describing is both a physical and mental phenomenon that occurs during extreme physically challenging situations, the real secret lies in the fact that the emotional and mental struggles we face in life can often be overcome in the same way.

Sometimes the road ahead looks so bad, one wonders how they can barrel through it. Mentally exhausted with nothing pulling you forward. But I’ll say to you, that if you can push on, just keep moving through it and don’t succumb to the voices of doubt in your head, better times await you. Although life can get complicated, sometimes the solution is really as simple as not giving up.

And so on we pushed that day. It seemed like endless valleys and hills, but in the end we came to a lean-to set upon a small pond and dropped the shoes from our blistered feet.

We enjoyed food that tasted better, the way things often do when you feel like you’ve earned them. And we shared stories as we polished off the remainder of our alcohol telling tales around the fire.

In the end, it was a good day and one I might not remember so clearly, if it hadn’t been for the challenge.

Jimmy Lawton is news editor of North Country This Week and NorthCountryNow.com