Dream Time 2012

Every new year, before its warm enough to actually get on a plane and go do something, the maps come out, the guide books are spread on the table, and I begin asking myself, where to now?

We ponder not whether to wander, but where.

While I do have a great job lined up in Yellowstone this summer, the early spring calls for action. Maybe not enough time to check out Alaska, right up at the top of my bucket list, but maybe enough time for the Georgia AT, reliving some cool memories, meeting some early backpackers heading for Katahdin.

A person has to want it, want it more than a soft pillow at night or variety of foods, more than hot showers and Internet. We get our gear to the summit, the will deep inside that laughs off aches and pains like a bad cup of coffee.

In all my travels, there's nothing, no one thing, like the comradeship of hikers on a trail, enjoying life, chucking all the fo-fo competitions instilled from kindergarten up.

In the end you find, no one wins, and the race is only with yourself. I've got a new camera, and it needs some trail time.