The End of the Trail (almost)

End of the Rhinoceros Trail (almost)

When I finished the 271 mile Long Trail of Vermont in 2016, I promised myself that I would never push myself (or my dogs) that hard again. Henceforth, whether hiking or pursuing any other of Life’s Endeavors, the Journey would always be the Goal. In other words, I accepted the truth that I didn’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore; I could stop and smell roses or whatever else was floating around.

 

 

Then,I signed up for a 2,700 virtual marathon!

I tried pretty hard to make it to the finish line, but inevitably there were a few unforeseen and unforeseeable events that required my attention. Side trips, detours, diversions, etc. We adopted a puppy with severe neurological impairment and nursed her back to health.

For the first 3 months of the year it rained and snowed record amounts, and then it got really hot. My ever-faithful shepherd sidekick Lyssa started slowing down and showing her age, while my partner and Colorado Trail support crew who was associated with the African Wildlife Conservancy was sidetracked by overwhelming family issues of her own. We almost lost our homeowner’s fire insurance and had to spend a lot of time cutting overgrown brush and trees around our property (long overdue!) The animal shelter clinic has been busier than ever setting record numbers for spays, neuters and adoptions. And yet, even though I’m not making it to the finish line on my virtual marathon, the Journey has been a huge success.

The dogs and I spent many hours together walking the roads and trails of El Dorado County, and backpacking in the Sierras. Tina and I reached the highpoints (literally!) of the Journey during the two weeks we spent on the challenging Collegiate Loop of the Colorado Trail in September. Once we reached those peak elevations it was all downhill from there!

A few things got put on the back burner while I was out logging the miles for rhinoceros conservation. When we got home from Colorado I needed to catch up on neglected chores, like painting the bedrooms and creating my annual “Dogs of the Mountains” calendar for 2020 (it’s one of my best efforts- I had such an abundance of great photos to choose from!)- and suddenly it was fall, and then Thanksgiving and Christmas and now another year is knocking at the door. Ready or not, here it comes.

One last chore on the list is sending a newsletter update to all of the great folks who signed up to sponsor me and support wildlife conservation in Africa! I’ll be posting the final tally sometime in January, but I’m aiming to hit the 3000 kilometer mark, which is 1,864 miles. Not bad for an old dog.

 

The dogs and I are still out walking every day we can, mostly on local trails close to home here in good old El Dorado County. It’s been a nice wet winter so far, and the moss and lichens are reviving and festooning the forest with all their verdant shades of green, the streams are running well, and the forest has that wonderful familiar earthy aroma of old life turning over into new life.  We’ve come full cycle once again- another long spin around our little local star we call the sun, (which is a orbit of 92.96 million miles in case you were wondering. The dogs and I hiked 1,860 miles, which seemed like a lot until I compare it to 92 million miles which we all traveled together, all of us, humans, dogs, rhinos, bugs, lobsters,and everything else on the planet!) While I re-read all of my blog posts from the year and reminisced over all the places we’d been, the dogs are snoozing on the back of the couch and by the woodstove taking a well-deserved long winter’s nap and dreaming about the adventure. Time for me to do likewise!

Happy Trails to all, and to all a Good Night!