To The Mountains...and Back

About two weeks ago I was feeling the itch to travel. Literally and figuratively. I have written previously about my summer body-itch issue, triggered by the hot and humid Pennsylvania summers. I hate it. It is enough for me to consider moving North after I retire. Up in elevation, where the days are just cooler and less humid. So, I knew I had to vacate Molumbia.

When I contemplated my options for travel I considered going to Colorado to hang out with a friend and his fam (scheduling just didn't correspond), Copenhagen (home of Soren Kierkegaard), or Maine (go back again, but further up to Acadia). I was starting to get paralyzed by all of the options. Then, a conversation that I had with my Dad months ago came back to me. The Adirondacks in New York State! My Dad had mentioned that there is a lodge--actually Loj, which is some phonetic spelling instituted by a Dr. Dewey, that is nestled in the mountains. Dr. Dewey might be the same dude who came up with the Dewey Decimal System. The Loj is operated by the ADK (Adirondack Mountain Club). Dad has been up there to cross-country ski. Perfect!

Interesting Factoid: One Indian tribe called another "Bark-Eaters" and that word is where we get Adirondacks from. Dissing among the native peoples. Up in the mountains, hard to forage and/or grow much besides trees. Factoid #2. The fiery abolitionist John Brown had a farm not too far away from where I was staying. For runaway slaves to work and become self-sufficient; he is also buried there. I think it was because of this part of NY being close to Canada. If the slave bounty-hunters came a-looking for a runaway enslaved person, he or she could cross the border to Canada which didn't allow extradition or slavery. Canadians are still very decent, friendly, and kind people. Met a bunch up at the Loj. I can't imagine that John Brown selected the farm for agricultural reasons alone; lots of stones/rocks in the soil    

Because of the late reservations, I slept up in the Loft with a number of other fellow lodgers, the only space available. It can get as high as 16 in the room and we were close to capacity a couple of the nights that I was lodging. The real nemesis, besides having little privacy, was snoring. Since I am a snorer, I was fearful that I would be public enemy number one among fellow occupants. According to one dude, at least on one night, I didn't snore at all. The last night, I think I did though, which resulted in the teen boy in the bed next to me to crash his bed frame into mine like a mountain goat. Not sure though. All I know is that he rammed me either intentionally or not. He did hit his head on the headboard earlier in the evening so it could have been accidental.

Side Note: I have actually been breathing better since I listened to a podcast on the Art of Manliness about breathing properly. Something you'd think would come intuitively but we lose that skill for various reasons, societally-driven. I think my snoring is related to not breathing properly, using the mouth rather than the nose, and perhaps other factors. As it was, there was some synchronized snoring going on among others in the ear plugs only muted it to a degree.

The Loj also has group dinners in a mess-hall of sorts. Food is pretty good...coffee was terrible though and my kidneys have taken a beating from what I can tell by my peeing frequency, which made for a rough trip home yesterday. TMI, I know. I am drinking the good stuff again here at home. The Loj is a communal space and the typical lodger (or lojjer) is a mid to hard-core hiker. I am neither. I am a decent athlete and in good shape for a 53 year old. I interacted with several others who had completed truly arduous 15 hour hikes and the like. One dude, who I picked up along the rode to give him a lift--a 20 year old--had done all 46 four-thousand peaks and above a little over two weeks if I recall correctly, which means he was knocking out three peaks a day. Ah, youth. I want to climb all 46 peaks but plan to do it at a much more leisurely pace.

The week away was wonderful. I met some really great people, breathed in the mountain air, climbed, ran, rode my bike, and drank some excellent craft beer as a reward for working out. Glad to have gone and glad to be back.