September 2018 was an emotional month, for the first time I broke down in a meeting, I felt such loss, such pain, such helplessness, for the first time since getting sober I had to experience feelings and emotions I hadn't felt in a long time. I did what I was told to do, I kept on, I pushed myself to get up and run, to talk about things, to hurt, to cry, and to love. I slowly began to heal, though it sure as hell didn't feel like it yet. Hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back I did exactly what I was supposed to do, and as the days went on, I slept better and thought less. A lesson that would surely be put to the test again in the future.
October came around and of course, it was time to head back up the road. This time Laura joined us again, but unlike the last time, she was coming in to the woods with us to experience the interior for the first time. I was excited to show her what this was all about, I wanted her to see what it was that drew me in, why this meant so much to me, and in hopes she would start to enjoy it too. The drive up was a lot easier than the last time, no blizzards, no busted cars, just a simple drive up to the soon to be great white north.
We arrived early in the morning and slept in the car for a few hours. At day break, we geared up and hit the trail. The first stop was Marcy Dam, this was my 3rd visit to the dam but since Laura was with us, it was photo op time. Dan and I took a photo at the remains of the dam on our first trip, so I wanted one with Laura. Then we headed on, our next destination was the campsites just below the Phelps trail. We stopped and dropped our gear, set up tents, and headed back out. Tabletop was our first peak of the trip, and Laura's first high peak. It was cool, wet, and muddy, typical Adirondacks. At the break to the herd path we saw our first bit of snow, it wasn't much, but enough for us southerners to get excited. Laura struggled heading up the mountain, we encouraged her and had a few groups of other hikers that we shuffled places with a few times. Her exhaustion set in during the last 3/4 of a mile and when I would let her know of a wet spot to not step in, she just decided to do it anyways. Of course her feet started getting wet, and next they would get cold.
We made it to the top, what a view of Mount Marcy!! We all took it in and shared our success together. What a great moment, I was so proud of her for sticking it out and making it up, but I was getting worried about her feet, we still had to spend a night out and it was going to get cold. We headed back down the mountain and back to camp, once there I got Laura in the sleeping bag and got her shoes and socks off to start to try warm her feet. She was starting to be in pain from the cold and knew if they didn't warm up quick we were going to have to bail. Fortunately, they began to warm some and we were able to stay. The plan was to wake early the next day and tackle Phelps. It was supposed to snow overnight, but not much so we figured the earlier the better before the ice starts to warm and get slippery.
Morning came and we dusted off our tents of the little bit of snow that had been coming down. Laura was tired, cold, and her feet were still hurting so she decided to stay behind. Dan and I decided to just quickly head up and down to get back and get her out. The trip up was fairly easy, and we were making great time. About a half mile before the summit we hit the ice we were expecting, we quickly put on our spikes and a warmer jacket and made our way to the top. Just like a movie, the closer we got the more the snow picked up and once we hit the top it was coming down pretty good. It made for such a beautiful scene. A few minutes of taking in the views and a couple of photos and it was time to head back down.
Dan and I had one of our last great conversations on our way back down. I had been dealing with some stuff with my brother at the time and was really uncertain as to what to do, but I talked to Dan about it and he gave me some great advice as always. This was always my favorite part about these trips, was working through life together. Learning what to do, and what not to do. Having someone I could trust to talk through things and who will be honest with me about it.
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