My first hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail

Wow! This is my first post in about 2 weeks.  Life has been BUSY... sometimes overwhelming and sometimes scary.  I'm sure you've heard the argument that being busy is a choice.  My answer to that is yes and no, and I would ask WHY is that person so busy?  Busyness is not always something that a person simply chooses to be because of the tasks they decided to take on.  Sometimes it is inevitable in different seasons of life.  I'm in a season of waiting.  Waiting on God.  And while I'm waiting, I'm choosing to put my hope in what it says in His Word, and choosing to believe that He hears my cries.  But through the waiting, I know that there are responsibilities on my end.  I have to do my part and take action with the blessings of provision that He presents to me.  And that is exactly what I am doing.  I am taking ACTION.  His provisions have always been great in my life.  It's easy to become blinded to His blessings when certain life circumstances seem so overwhelming.  I am plenty guilty of that.  But I KNOW that every good thing in this life is a blessing from God.

I was able to take a break from the busyness for a few days with my wonderful sister-in-law on a hiking trip to the Appalachian Trail.  We had been planning this trip for weeks.  And by planning, I mean we mapped out our trip.  That's about it, lol.  Little did we know that we were about to get hit with what felt like a semi-truck.

Our starting point was an hour and a half drive from home, so I brought my notepad and laptop in the car and worked up until pretty much the very last minute, even made quick stop at a gas station with free wifi to send a few emails.  But once we arrived at the Greenbriar State Park to begin our trip, all work was put away, and it was time to simply enjoy the company of my sister-in-law and the beautiful outdoors.  

We arrived at night, so that way we could get an early start to the day.  The first night was... interesting.  We found the shelter in the dark and pitched up our tent at the first campsite we saw... on an incline... and on rocks.  Let's just say not a ton of sleep happened that night.  When your sliding down your tent over small pieces of rock, restful sleep is not in the cards.  I was MORE than ready to start our day at the first glimpse of sunlight.  We packed everything up, and with 30 pounds of gear on our backs, started our 14 mile hike.  

First thing I noticed during our hike... everyone had trekking poles except for us.  I thought to myself... "That's ok.  It just adds a little more challenge to our hike.  I LOVE a challenge."  At our first rocky uphill climb, my viewpoint quickly changed.  Lesson learned #1:  ALWAYS bring trekking poles when hiking.  

Forcing one foot in front on the other, over and over and over again, Miley Cyrus' lyrics to "It's the climb" came to mind.  I know, so cheesy.  

"Ain't about how fast I get there.  Ain't about what's waiting on the other side.  It's the climb."  I love that song, lol.

But what was waiting on the other side of that climb was BEAUTIFUL.  It was a picture perfect vision of fall.  It felt like the first little victory to our first uphill climb.  I found out quick that hiking is actually really hard, lol.  Who knew?  The rest of our 14 mile hike consisted of approximately 6 miles of going uphill over rocky terrain, with one specific part of that being a solid 2.5 miles before we hit flat terrain again.  But my plan for this hike was to enjoy some quiet time with myself, my sister-in-law, and with God.  So I put in my headphones listening to my "Third Day" Pandora Station and let God speak to my soul through worship songs.

I know I've said this before, but I LOVE worship music.  It's encouraging and it's uplifting.  Listening to lyrics of God's love and provision for us while hiking through the beautiful outdoors was so incredibly peaceful.  The recent trials that life has thrown my way has left me clinging to Christ with everything that I have.  Through the grief, I am so thankful to have a God who is forever faithful and forever loving.  But sometimes I need a reminder of that truth, and that's what worship music does for my heart.    

So long story short of our first day of hiking... the trail that day was CHALLENGING, but the gorgeous views and feeling of accomplishment made it so worth it.    

14 miles later, we landed on our second shelter of the trip.  

We came across dozens of experienced hikers and I noticed another very important piece of equipment that everyone carried with their pack... the foam camping mat.

Lesson learned #2:  If you're planning on sleeping in a sleeping bag and not a hammock, never go on an over-night hiking trip without a foam camping mat.

Camping sight #2 had a flat surface for us to set up our tent, but still on a rocky surface.  The combination of rocks digging into your hips and a whopping temperature of 40 degrees is not a recipe for a restful night of sleep.    

We hiked another 7 miles the next day.  Nothing crazy, but we were tired from the day before.  Our final night of camping was like "glamping" compared to how the first 2 nights went.  When we rolled up on the shelter, there was a giant fire pit and a CABIN!!!  It felt like a 5 star hotel.  And don't even get me started on our meal!  It was heaven.  We broke open the MRE and had chili, cornbread , crackers, jalapeño cheese, and even mixed up an MRE cocktail with the lemon-lime powder with the small bottle of vodka we brought for the trip.  Score!!  

Overall, I'd say our trip was a success for our first multi-day hiking trip.  We didn't do a ton of research, just kinda dove right in, so some parts definitely kicked us in the butt.  I got my trail name, "Reese" from a fellow hiker, and learned a ton of lessons for our next hike, because I WILL be doing another one of these.  It was a much-needed re-charge, and the perfect way to disconnect from the busyness of life for a short time. 

Our last day, I went for a walk and found a spot in the middle of the woods to have some one-on-one time with God.  During this season of waiting that I'm in, one thing I have consistently been praying for is "provision".  I'll be honest.  I don't always FEEL God's presence.  Sometimes I just have to choose to believe that He is there.  I'm a follower of Christ for life.  That will never change.  But sometimes I wish that God would reach His hand down and physically shake me, just saying "Hey!  I'm right here."  But that's where faith comes in, right?  Believing that He is there even in the times that you cannot see Him.  I sat there telling God SO many different things on my heart, but one thing specifically being PROVISION.  In these last couple weeks of being home from our Appalachian Trail trip, I'd be a fool to say that God has not been answering my prayer.  His provisions are real.  There are things I wish that I could change, circumstances that are out of my control... but through it all God has been my shelter in the storm.  He has shown His provision in my life, and is continuing to do so.  During times of frustration, I'll often turn to Psalm 40.  This chapter starts off with David saying, 

"I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."  

Certain life circumstances can make you feel like you are living in a "pit of destruction".  I've seen Satan destroy beautiful things because others chose not to protect what God had blessed them with, but I've also seen God produce miracles from those messes.  We can't control what other people do, but we can control our own actions.  If we choose to set our eyes on Christ and let Him guide our steps through life, He WILL bring us out of whatever pit of destruction we are currently in.  Set your eyes on Christ, even through your season of waiting, and watch His provision, protection, and faithfulness.