A Hike in a Park

After this experience coasting on the river, I became greatly encouraged to take a day or so & visit a park a few hours drive away. I was additionally encouraged to camp at the park for at least a night.

The park, a National Park, was loaded with natural beauty & I found myself stopping several times along the main street & turning my rental vehicle around to go back to various parking cut-away sections in so that I'd be able to stop & capture the moments along the path. It was a lesson in noticing, just noticing & not always just running on by. (Both literally & figuratively, that is.)

It turned out, in my potential overpacking that having packed these turned out to be a "successful waste of space". (Hooray for that! 😁) These are the things that happen along the way which I recall as I'm packing in the future, further reminding me of the goodness within the action of overpacking. Because sometimes it downright equals good sense & practicality.


I had the opportunity to hike some grand, spectacular trails & photograph some impressive scenes. I tossed a few of these & an apple in a fanny pack I'd been regularly using & wore one of these on my back, which made it easier to enjoy the day to its fullest without a disruption in energy.

I'd woken up very early that first morning to make the drive out to the park (after not having allowed myself to fall asleep until very late). And when I digressed & stretched out that night at the campsite, within the folds of the trees, I easily fell asleep. I slept very well. I woke up amazed at the soundness of my sleep & the amount of hours of my sleep (which totaled 11).

I knew, in part, that since I'd driven to the park with just a few hours of sleep under my head that my body would be desiring more rest at the end of the day anyway. I wasn't wrong about that. I do also think that, because my rental vehicle wasn't parked in the wide open back section of a store's parking lot as it'd been previously during my time in this state-across-the-country-from-home, & instead was parked on an actual campsite in an actual campground, that my body felt "permitted" to relax & just be.

Having the opportunity to hike the trails that I did turned out great for my body overall. I ultimately felt my limbs stretched in a unique way over the various sections of hiking trails. An element of cross-training in the ready preparation for the next (& last) marathon to be just days after these hiking days & before I headed back home made for a great fit as well.

The park didn't have internet capabilities (unless while at the visitor center) & so therefore, as a lone hiker with a gregarious personality (& only so much 💰 to commit to these activities), after enjoying the experience as much as possible, I headed back to the town a few hours drive away which had become a sort of home away from home. And, if it's meant to be, someday, maybe, it actually will be my home.

Just not so much in this near future. 😄

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