I had not seen a single soul in the last two days in these mountains, not on the trail, not at the campsites, and not even on local side trails. When I landed in the Allentown Mountain shelter, I was ready for another one of those meditational, self-exploring experiences. This was a brand-new shelter. Absence of chips in the wooden floor, neatly kept shovel and broom, and perfectly hung instructions on the wall in this shelter were reminding me of OCD person’s living room. Now, this neat living room would be my home for one night.
Dusk does come early in this dense jungle. It was not long before I had to start my routine evening chores. Change into equally smelling dry clothes, get water from some far away trickling stream, make hopelessly boring mashed potatoes from dehydrated powder, and then set up my sleep system (outfitters’ fancy name for the mat and sleeping bag!) in the shelter. I suddenly remembered my snake-fearing wife’s wisdom from 700 miles away in Michigan. She wanted me to set up my free-standing tent inside the shelter to keep me warm, away from snakes and away from any COVID-19 virus. I kept thinking, “Really? Is that what she wanted?”
And just when I started setting up the tent as an obedient husband, Chairman showed up at the shelter at 6:30 pm and startled me. He looked exactly like all other thru hikers. Long beard, dusty shirt, short pants, muddy shoes, classic posture of a person with a backpack and trekking poles, and very distinct sparkling eyes despite a long and hard 16-mile day in this rocky northern Pennsylvania. He declared that Sorrel and Porcupine will be arriving at the shelter as well.
In a conventional ordinary world, it takes a few days for the conversation with a stranger to go beyond pleasantries. On the trail, it takes 30 seconds to become a trail family, a tramily. Even before he removed his backpack, I already knew that his girlfriend had a stint at the University of Michigan Medical School, he worked for three years in my hometown, he has only 114 miles to go to complete the thru hike, lost 60 lbs. on the trail and his trail name Chairman was given to him because he carried a chair on the trail for first 200 miles.
Porcupine, Sorrel and Chairman have been traveling together for the last few days. Sorrel loves to add sorrel in her meals and is a Jazz singer, songwriter and composer based in New York city, originally from Maine. She is looking forward to meeting her mom in the next few days and plans to take a zero day (rest day) with her before completing the trail 500 miles away. Porcupine is a vegan from Ohio, who meditates and practices breathing techniques like a devout yogi. He loves Indian food, especially in Hindu temples. When I mentioned to him about my vegetarian wife, he promptly persuaded me to give up dairy products and meat. I told him that I have eaten grasshopper, crocodile and deer tail, and certainly want to explore a few more animals before turning vegan. His shocked face convinced me that he no longer considers me a Hindu.
However, Porcupine’s daily routine of meditation is not necessary to have a spiritual journey on the trail. Check out this casual dialogue among four of us while we were wrapped in our sleeping bags in the night.
Porcupine: What do you do, Dadhi?
Dadhi (that is me!): I recently retired from General Motors purchasing. Do you know how big these freaking companies are? We purchase $100 Billion worth of parts every year.
Porcupine: ohhh, I wish I had 100 Billion dollars.
Chairman responded instantaneously: If I have that much money, I will do PCT (another long-distance trail called Pacific Crest Trail on the west coast of USA) next year!
Sorrel: I will just vanish in the woods!
Somehow, I have a weird feeling that every thru hiker will have a similar response. All the preaching by monks, gurus, rabbis, and priests would probably never achieve such a simple ascetic mindset!
I spent my first week with my buddies from Detroit on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in Virginia. After completing Dragon Tooth, the team had landed at Catawba Shelter and were ready to chill. Moses showed up late in the evening at the shelter, just like the sudden appearance of Chairman. Moses did look like ancient character coming alive out of some Rembrandt or Michael Angelo painting with his sharp nose and triangular narrow beard. He was bored of his routine IT job in New York City and had decided to do half of AT along with his four friends from Virginia Tech. He had just finished 25 miles and was very tired.
Dadhi: What the fxxx? How did you manage to do 25 miles in one day?
Moses: I can describe it in two words, LSD and coffee.
Dragon Boy (my Indian buddy from Detroit): What is LSD?
We all started laughing. We did not want to spoil Dragon Boy’s innocence. Almost immediately, we came to know that Moses is also a vegan, did not want to bypass the 40-mile section of the trail unlike his four friends, and decided to walk and catch up in two days with them. When we all were sharing our food with each other, he told us that earlier he used to share what he had in plenty. The trail has given him a gift, a change in attitude, to start sharing his precious and scarce things. A life-long, beautiful gift, indeed!
As we continued our chatting, I realized that sometimes, the spiritual journey on the trail also destroys one’s ego. In this case, it was my ego, my pride that I am doing something special by attempting AT with a stent in my heart from the previous heart attack. When I mentioned my condition to Moses, he admired me. But then quietly commented about his friend on AT, who has lost 3/4th of his lungs. For non-hikers, my past health condition may be “inspirational”, “brave”, “little-too-much”, “unnecessary”, “Hara-kiri” and many other things. But on the trail, all the adjectives melt away.
I had just finished a sharp climb and was resting on a wooden log. Carrying 25 lbs. backpack on a 190 lbs. fat body was not easy. While I was huffing and puffing on the wooden log, another person showed up following the same climb. He appeared cheerful and was ready to continue. He said, “Hey, I am Leaky Boots. Can you please help me in applying ointment on my back? Some nasty bee may have stung me.” I, of course, obliged while visualizing a bee getting stuck in my hairy back before even attempting to sting me.
Leaky Boots started searching for the ointment in his small bag among a few small Snicker bars, a bandage, a couple of paper napkins and the rosary. He proudly held the rosary in his hand and said, “I carry my rosary, because I am a Catholic”. I also showed him a small red cloth in my pocket. I told him that my father gave it to me 10-12 years ago. It contains few leaves of Durva (a type of Bermuda grass usually found in India and is used in worshipping the Elephant God). My father’s faith was that it would protect me in difficult situations.
After applying the ointment, we continued our chatting. I could not believe that Leaky Boots was freaking 78 years old dude. “No way!”, I exclaimed while bowing to him. His energy, smile, chirpy demeanor, and positive attitude were mind blowing. He used to be the outfitter himself but eventually became a student counselor, his dream job. We walked for five hours together, discussing his students, his long-distance dating with a Japanese woman, today’s media, hiking gear and many other random things. I told him about my children, our family, where I come from, my parents and my writings. He was really looking forward to a surprise meeting with his grandchildren on the trail, secretly arranged by his daughter. When I told him about my daughter’s name, he said, he knows at least three Aartis as a counselor and all of them were very smart. “One of them even went to MIT!” I stopped in my tracks. I told him, “OMG, even my Aarti went to MIT!”
It was a funny small world, amazing coincidences, and uncanny bonding of brothers from two different mothers from two different continents!
Meals were getting ready! All of us had standard kitchenware. A tiny stove, small gas cylinder, a spork and 700-800 ml container. That is it! One boils water in a couple of minutes, adds packet full of dehydrated powder of some ready-made meal, and boom! You got your dinner! No need for a cooking range, a casserole, designer cutlery, cutting boards, umpteen number of containers and an entire room full of unnecessary stuff!
Tim and Tammy sat with all of us around this oddly constructed picnic table. Tim prayed and thanked God for the food on the table. We all said “amen!” and we started sharing food with each other. We thanked Tim when he said, “Do you know something? For me, faith is the anchor”. That sentence from my fellow Michigander, whom I met just one hour ago in the middle of the Virginia jungle on AT is stuck in my head! Yes, faith can be in any religion, faith can be in nature, in science, in oneself, in your parents, in teachers, in your friends. Faith can be in anything. But faith matters! It provides the anchor in your life! Makes our life meaningful, happy, enjoyable and desirable!
I have faith in my tramily! In just 12 days on the trail, I learnt so much from them, heard their mesmerizing stories, shared their goodwill and purity of hearts! I cannot thank them enough for enriching my life. And I already know that my tramily members will be growing leaps and bounds next year during my thru hike! I just cannot wait to hit the trail!
Nitin (Dadhi) Anturkar (November 2020)
