February 23, 2008
It was a small group today, just four of us: Millie, Alex, Ed, and myself.
We headed up 19 Mile Brook Trail.
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Millie, Alex, and Ed in the back.
Ed has been hiking nearly every day for the last week or so.
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Millie hiked the AT in 2005. We talked about the Tennessee section of the AT that I would be hiking next. She was very helpful filling me in about the area and letting me know of a possible place to stay when I'm there. We reached the next trail junction and continued on the same path.
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The trail was well packed with all the traffic to Carter Notch Hut.
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Just .7 miles to the top of Wildcat A.
"That's the longest .7 miles around," said Millie.
She was right. It was normally a very long .7 miles, but it turns out that today it would be short.
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Looking up to Wildcat A.
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We began the steep climb up and got a good look down into the valley.
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We reached a particularly steep and tricky place on the trail.
"Ok," said Ed. "I want everyone to put their crampons on."
I took my pack off to get my crampons. Then my heart dropped into my stomach. I had put them into the car last night, but had forgotten to throw them into my pack. I stared at my pack for a moment somehow thinking that maybe if I stared hard enough I could wish them from the trunk of my car into my pack. Nope, my mind was way to weak for something like that.
I turned to Ed, "I have a confession."
"What's that?" he asked.
"I left my crampons in my car."
"Ok, we'll head back."
He said it so nonchalantly. I could tell it was really no big deal to him.
"I'll be able to hike Monday now," he added.
"We'll get about the same mileage in," said Millie. "I'm out here pretty much just to get miles in."
"It's no big deal," added Alex, "just a couple less checkmarks on our list."
I couldn't believe how forgiving the group was. I've been in group hikes that had to turn back before, but this was the first time that I was the cause. I was totally embarassed. It wasn't the most embarassing moment of life (I've lived too long and done way too many ridiculous things for that), but it was perhaps the most embarassing moment of my hiking career. I felt absolutely horrible about it.
We headed back down the steep section of the trail.
"Let's visit the hut," said Ed.
Ed left his pack at the trail junction, so I did the same. I did grab my GPS however. At least I could keep track of today's mileage for Millie. We walked across the frozen Carter Lakes (small ponds really). We spent a few minutes relaxing inside the hut before heading back.
As we were heading back down the trail, Ed was behind me and said, "Hey Eric."
"What?" I asked.
"Stop thinking about it."
"Huh?"
"I can tell by your body language that you are still thinking about it. Stop it."
He was right of course. I was beating myself up real bad over this. I've made plenty of mistakes in the past, but I have a particularly hard time getting over one of my mistakes when it effects others.
When we got back to the trailhead Millie asked, "Will you still be entering this hike in your journal?"
I had given much thought to this question over the last hour or so. I was so embarassed by this incident that I had considered leaving it out of my journal, but maybe if I write about it, someone else could learn from my mistake.
"Yes," I replied to Millie. "I'll own up to it."
"We'll see how honest he is about it," joked Alex.
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My Mistake
I got familiar with NOT needing my crampons. I've been hiking in winter conditions for the past three months and never needed them. On each hike the leader of the hike has come around and said we wouldn't need crampons and everyone would proceed to pull them out of their packs. They are a heavy item, so if the leader is sure we won't need them why carry them. A few weeks ago, I continued to bring my crampons, but instead of packing them, I left them next to my pack to throw in at the last minute if necessary. Big mistake, especially with my memory.
Future Plan
I will always put them in my pack the night before. If the leader for the day says we won't need them, then and only then will I pull them out. They aren't that heavy, if I bring them and don't need them, so what.
Count My Blessings
There is an old Gospel hymn titled "Count Your Blessings." Thinking of this song is a great way to look for the positive in a negative situation.
- I'm thankful that today was a group of 4 including myself. As bad as I felt, I would have felt worse if it had been a group of 12.
- I'm thankful for the group I was with today. I couldn't have been with any other hikers who were more understanding and forgiving than Alex, Millie, and Ed.
- I'm thankful for the opportunity to learn from my mistake and hopefully have others learn from my mistake.
- When others make mistakes, I always do my best to be forgiving. Seeing how forgiving today's group was will help me to be even more forgiving towards others.
Probably everyone has heard the old quote from Alexander Pope: "To err is human; to forgive is divine."
These words of wisdom were definitely practiced today. I provided the 'to err is human' part, while the group exercised the 'to forgive is divine' part.
The Ride Home
I saw something interesting on the ride home. I drove through Bethel, Maine which is about 30 minutes from my home. Back in 1999, about 18 months before I moved to Maine, the town of Bethel built the World's Tallest Snowman. It looks like they are duplicating the feat, but with one exception. This time they are building the World's Tallest Snow-woman.
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A week later I drove by and saw the completed snow-woman.
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Thanks again to Ed, Millie, and Alex whose understanding is surpassed by none.
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