A Journey of a Thousand Miles

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," says an ancient Chinese proverb. My journey of two thousand miles started in just the same way. And now, a long way north of where I began, I have stumbled across a corollary to that proverb: A journey of a thousand miles must cross its halfway point. For me, that was a thousand-mile journey in and of itself.

Not many people can say they have walked one thousand miles in a single hike. That in itself is an impressive feat. Even so, it remains a bit daunting to think that if I turned around now, I would be hiking just as far back to Springer Mountain as if I continued north to Katahdin. All the excitement of reaching mile marker 1090.5 is tempered by the knowledge that I have to do what I just did all over again, only in hotter weather with more mosquitoes.

That being said, there is one important difference between my first thousand miles and my second. When I started this hike, I didn't know how far I could go. I left Springer with the hope of reaching Katahdin, but also knowing that I may not. Now, I look ahead to Katahdin knowing that I still have a long way to go, but I am also well aware of exactly what it will take. More to the point, I know that because I did it once, I can do it again -- and I have confidence that I will.

In time, I hope to discover a second corollary to that proverb: A journey of a thousand miles ends with a single step. And what a step it will be.

Here's to getting halfway there!