Rucking....enough said

Here I am at Bear's Den Hostel in the lovely Virginia mountains right on the Appalachian Trail with about 50 plus of my favorite trail friends. It was a challenging drive on Thursday night through torrential rain with trucks flying by on the narrow always being constructed Pennsylvania Turnpike.  My poor car heard me say not only, GACK!! but lots of other bad words while driving this much hated road.  Grrrrrr. I did arrive safely and on schedule at the hostel where warm food and warm hugs were delivered.  Thank you, Marie for the food!

Friday dawned sunny, windy and clear.  Wingheart, Bronco, Restless and I enjoyed a nice breakfast at the Pine Grove Restaurant and then went back to the hostel to await the arrival of other Rucksters.  During this time a minor crisis ensued, the wind having blown down a power line right as Marsha was starting the dinner prep.  Dominion Power came through and the power was back on in a couple of hours. 

In the evening, people poured through the door with much hugging, laughing and loud welcomes.  Dinner was wonderful as Marsha softly bullied everyone into doing just what she needed and with great aplomb she herded people out of the way when it got too crowded in the small kitchen.  Food as always was wonderful with all of us eating wayyyy to much! 

Next came the video presentations.  Blissful pulled all the women aside and gave her talk about Women's Hiking issues to a small but interactive crowd.  Highlight of her talk was as always, how to deal with the waste disposal issue. 'Nuff said!  Then Heartfire came through with a beautiful slide show highlighting her 2011 Wonderland Trail hike. Her beautiful photographs of flower-filled meadows and mountain vistas made us at times gasp in awe. What a fantastic travelogue of this trail.  She inspired us all to put this lovely trail on our life list of hiking destinations.  After a lot of jawing and eating, I climbed into my bunk for bed.  

This morning, yup more eating, talking and a sunny day greeted me...and LOTS of bacon.  Our early morning cooks outdid themselves with blueberry pancakes and bacon.  That smell sure can wake you up!

Everyone is out hiking right now as I write this post.  Its the only quiet time I can find.  I'll head out later for a small hikey at least to the overlook.  Tonight more food, more talk, more reminiscing of trails hiked and good friends made.  There is nothing like these get togethers to revive my spirit and to remind me of my wild heart.  Remembering my time on the trail, when life was striped down to living with what I had on my back, stirs a pot that is always simmering in the deep recesses of my soul.  The wanderer in me is never far away always poking, poking me to move into areas where I have not visited before.  A journey does not always have to be done with one's feet but can be done inside too and as my knees don't allow me to hike as much as I would like to anymore, I find that the wanderer wants to take me to places inside that I've not been before.  The result of interior journeys can lead to a journey that is every bit as exciting as physically standing on a mountain top.  So, if your body defies your wanderlust, find other new frontiers personally which challenge you.  Many of my hiking friends are finding themselves in similar situations with physical challenges mucking up their lives.  I hope they will follow my lead and find other ways to journey and feed that inner wanderer.