Last summer my father and I went to Pisgah National Forest – near Big Bald. He loved it even more than I expected; our hike was really wonderful. I believe he has been trying to get back ever since that day. We saw some amazing butterflies and sat with a simple snack. Somewhere along the relatively short hike we took, I was able to convince him to turn off the notifications on his phone. I remember it was counting his steps or something like that; it annoyed me every time it buzzed aloud. I remember asking him why he needed to know the number of steps and I attempted to remind him of the days gone by when phones did not count steps for us. I reminded him that we still enjoyed hiking before the pedometer / phone phenomenon. Despite the buzzing phone, we had a great time.

I am excited to go back to the AT this summer. I was unable to secure an entire sabbatical but I do plan to complete a good portion of the Long Trail (maybe all of it if I am lucky and plan well). We’ll see what happens.

Since my last post to qthiker.org I have been ordained in the United Church of Christ, gotten married to the love of my life, been paid in snack cakes to do stand up comedy, completed a marathon and lost one of my dearest friends. Life has been strange but the trail awaits. I know it will hold all my joy and pain. I can feel the peaceful and commanding presence of the mountains as I prepare for bed here in the greater Boston area.