Divided: A Walk on the Continental Divide Trail by Brian Cornell

Author:Brian Cornell [Cornell, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-26T00:00:00+00:00

XV.

National Park Zoo

August 16 - Day 109

Upon entering the park from the southern boundary, I am greeted with wide sweeping valleys. Trees litter the hillside as a stream winds through the low point of the valley, casting a green gradient across the landscape. Fish swim through the water and flop beyond the mirror-like surface as sunlight reflects off their tiny scales. Patches of burn areas leave temporary scars on the yellow-green hills. Trees left by fires of years past lay helplessly on the ground or else stand naked in the high summer sun. I look around for signs of wildlife but am more attracted to the butterflies flitting from flower to flower in search of the yellow powder that keeps them going. Cast your gaze too far ahead, and you are bound to miss what is right in front of you.

Twelve miles hiked today. This will be my second night spent in Yellowstone National Park. The miles have been extremely easy and manageable over the past few days. Walking half my usual mileage, I am much less tired at the end of the day, and I also have a lot more time on my hands to do things other than walking and eating.

Before this ankle injury, I was averaging twenty to twenty-six miles a day, walking anywhere between two to three miles per hour. I would walk ten to twelve hours a day, which took up most of the day’s hours. Halving my mileage halves the amount of time I spend walking, which has opened my day up quite a bit. I am forced to sit a lot more and spend my time in other ways.

Fortunately, I found The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin at the thrift store in Dubois for fifty cents, which is possibly the best investment I have made all year. Much of my time resting alongside the trail is precursed by me locating a good bit of shade with a decent seat so I can read while protected from the sun. I write in my journal more and sometimes just meditate while watching tree branches sway to the breeze.

What I recognize most during this stint of walking half my normal pace, is how much time is in the day. If you do something for twelve hours a day, you are bound to get pretty good at whatever it is you’re doing. I realize how much time you put into something determines how good you are going to be at that thing. If you go to the park to shoot hoops for twelve hours a day, you will get pretty good at shooting hoops. If you spend twelve hours a day sewing, you will get pretty good at sewing, becoming a more efficient and adept sewer over time. Repetition and practice do not ensure perfection, but it certainly is crucial to develop a skill.

However, it is difficult to do something for twelve hours a day, and it can be overwhelming to have this much free time to yourself. It takes discipline to focus your attention on one thing for such a long period.

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