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Hello from Chamonix! Yes, we have made it more than halfway now and boy, is that good news! First, let me put to rest the rumor coming out of the green valleys of Vermont that I have been dispatched and nowhere to be found. Not
so. I'm still here.
Hmm, let's see...my last "blog" was some time ago. Laziness, I'm afraid. Ask all who know me. (My folks still think I'm
studying at the U of U.) Last posting was way back in FeldKirche or some such place. It's all a blur. The latest pair of boots, Italian, are doing pretty well for me now. I think that Russ has surpassed me in boot purchases!
As I write this, I am watching people going to the start of a
grueling 100 mile race that will start here in beautiful Chamonix and end, at earliest, 23 hrs from now, right in front of our hotel! Talk about crazy! They are all so...thin. Maybe the lack of physical substance has gone to their brains and lead to this obvious madness. I'm sure glad all I
have to do is hike for the next 40 some days!!!
Speaking of which, what is the Fundamental Motivation for this H2H??? Je ne sais pas. Ich weiss es nicht. No se. Non lo so. I don't know. Well, I think that our fearless leader has captured it most eloquently and insightfully (and has put up with my morning moods admirably!). I can add some things from my brain that cause a motivational drain....
It is true that it is very hard to know how one will respond to the many and varied trails and tribulations (trails...heehee) of this type of venture. I guess what I find the toughest
is that for me, I think doing 4 months of any one thing would become a bit tedious. I used to help guide river trips for the Outdoor Program at the U of U (greatest bunch of guys and gals!) and Russ used to ask why didn't I do it professionally if I liked it so much and the answer is pretty much the same as why I have found out that 92 days of hiking is too much for me. It becomes work. I like to separate work from my pleasures since I can't sing. (if I can't be a singer, all else is work...) I like variety. What can I say. I did go paragliding on our first 2 day rest period. That was new and different and very awesome.
I find that it is also the little things that pluck at my motivation: being stinky on most days, washing clothes on most days, having no real alone time, having to move on each day, no place to hang one's "hat" for more than a day or 2, eating out every day, not having enough time to just watch my garden grow, squatting on trails, packing the
monkey on my back each morning, etc.
But all in all it is a great experience and | know how fortunate I am to have this opportunity. I also think that things worth doing are not always "fun". In fact, I think to
expect to have fun and be happy on a daily basis for 4 months is not something that would ever cross my mind. I would expect to have a variety of emotions on any given 4 month period. If I'm happy, great, if not, well that is fine too. I am not particularly happy slogging up a steep mountain trail in the rain. But that is part of this trip. There are days, quite a few, when I wake up at 6:00am or so and no, I don't want to go out hiking. But that is part of the experience. As is all the beauty and all the fun.
It is true that other than finishing and getting in better shape, I don't have a strong motivation. But I have been on fairly friendly terms with "doing what I don't necessarily want to do" most of my life realizing that I am, at heart, a lazy and somewhat capricious soul. Which is why it is good to push
on. Just to do it. It's okay. I like looking forward to things as much as I like being still. Monte Carlo.... Provence.... Burma... Home.
