Walking Quietly

In old age I shall walk quietly the beautiful trail.

Navajo Prayer

The photo you see above was taken on my last backpacking trip in August of 2024. It was probably the worst trip I have ever taken. ( See Savoring the Warmth 9/8/24). A couple of hours after I took the picture those beautiful clouds had covered the sky, blocked the vista of Mt. St. Helens, and made ready to drop rain, snow, and sleet the next morning.

That trip was so bad that I have thought of doing one last backpacking trip before I give away my gear. It would be a different sort of trip, a few miles perhaps, and I would of course seek out a quiet place, pitch my tent by the river, and “walk quietly the beautiful trail.” I no longer need to seek out the rugged path, climb the highest peaks, explore the mountains off trail. I simply want to sit by the river, drink my tea, and read my book, as I have done so many times.

I still want to complete that loop in the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area, but it will be a different sort of trip, one with a day pack, plenty of time for resting along the way, and rain or shine, returning to my waiting car at the trailhead at the end of a twelve mile hike.

Gradually I am coming to view aging as a gift, one that has forced me to slow down, to savor these moments by the river, to revisit the memories of those amazing solo hikes that have so richly informed my life. My most precious moments at home these days are spent sitting in front of the wood stove, my two big dogs by my side. This is a good life, perhaps the best I have experienced in a long one, despite the many losses I have had to endure in the last year.

I may yet do that last backpacking trip by the river, or I may just think about it as I am doing now. Just knowing that the river is there, that I can visit it in my mind’s eye, sip my tea, listen to the river voices and what they have to tell me. Yes, it is enough.