Trail Notes – August 26

As you can tell from the title – today was an unusual day. No mountains! Four ponds, but zero mountains! My mind was free to wander in a way it has not in a long time, and wander it did… It came back with this:

On a dark Maine byway, cool wind in my hair
Dusty smell of old pine rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance I saw a blueblazed sight
My pack grew heavy and the light grew dim
I had to stop for the night

There the shelter had no doorway, the water was from a well
Then I was thinking to myself this could be Heaven or this could be Hell

Then I lit up the headlamp and it showed me the way
There were loons down by the pond I thought I heard them say

“Welcome to the Trail Appalachia
Such a lovely place
(Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of miles on the Trail Appalachia
Any time of year
(Any time of year)
You can find it here”

The trail is definitely twisted, it got the shapely wimmins
It got a lot of hairy, bearded boys that could be friends
How they hike in the mountains, sweet summer sweat
Some hike to remember, some hike to forget

So I called up the hostel, “Please save me a bunk”
He said, “We have space for you, but you can’t get drunk.”

And still those loons are calling from far away
They woke me up in the middle of the night just to hear them say

“Welcome to the Trail Appalachia
Such a lovely place
(Such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They’re living it up at the Trail Appalachia
What a nice surprise
(What a nice surprise)
Bring your alibis”

Spiders on the ceiling, the peppermint schnapps is nice
And she thought, “We are all just trekkers here of our own device”
And in the town restaurants, they gathered for the feast
They slice it with their steely knives, but the hunger just can’t be ceased.

Last thing I remember I was altered to the core
I had to find a way back to the person I was before
“Relax,” said my inner voice, “and this you must believe,
You can quit any time you like but your heart will never leave.”

I hike on!