Wild

Yesterday I ended up on Oprah.com, where they were broadcasting a live interview with Cheryl Strayed, who has just published the book “Wild” about her solo hike of the 1100 mile Pacific Crest Trail in the US.

It was a wonderful interview, and a wonderful story about a physical journey being a spiritual journey and how they overlap. About the weight of an over-filled backpack and over-burdened soul. And some interesting parallels between my journey and Cheryl’s- go Cheryl for doing it at 23!

Anyway, I was inspired to get out the hiking maps of the area I bought last week, and strike out on L1 –Les Yeuses – The Oaks. Not an 1100 mile adventure of a lifetime, but the perfect opportunity to give my mind a rest from all this soul-searching. It felt great to be outside, to be going somewhere with a purpose, and it was a beautiful day, with a big blue sky and a slight breeze.

It was less exciting to discover that a lot of the words in the directions were not in my French-English dictionary. But with a few false starts, I discovered that a blue ‘x’ meant ‘this is not the blue path’ and I successfully navigated the 4km ramble up. I love the feeling of power in my thighs when I am going uphill, and I love the feeling of air rushing back into my lungs when I arrive at a flat area. The hills here are dry, the trees green but not lush. There are several springs in the hills though, and I passed one today, where so many big, beautiful dragonflies danced in the shade off the oaks that surrounded it. As I stood and watched, one beautiful turquoise fellow perched on a leaf right in front of me, as if inviting me to take a good look.

I passed a big property, by area standards. There was a big garden, an actual green lawn, and a small swimming pool. No people around though, perhaps it is the summer cottage for a family from the bigger city. 

There were some beautiful views of the village. I couldn’t quite make out the house where I am staying, but I could identify most of the areas as I’ve been exploring for a week now. And how delightful that the path ended right outside the pub. I took it as a sign to end the hike with a beer and a sandwich on the patio before heading home for a nap.

The moral of today’s story is “Less thinking, more hiking.”