Staying focused on the challenge...

Day 211
10-4-2006
Started: Green River, UT
Finished: San Rafael Desert, UT
Today's Miles: 26.5
Total Miles: 3077.0

The desert is showing us it's many faces. The crazy muddy mess that we walked through yesterday has been absorbed by the thirsty ground of the San Rafael Desert and today we are back to applying sunscreen and walking along dusty dirt roads. The landscape out here has a unique beauty to it that at times makes you feel like your on some other far away planet. We're sure the fact that we walk all day and don't see any other humans helps add to the far away feelings. Regardless of the lack of human contact, we definitely weren't alone today. We had hundreds, maybe even thousands of companions on today's hike. We'll Randy tried to think of them as companions, but Sheri was driven half mad by what she considered pests. Randy tried to take on his usual "be one with the bugs" mindset and therefore called the annoying gnats his companions, but today his outlook was seriously challenged. Sheri had her head wrapped in a shirt and she practically wore her arms out swatting at all the gnats that seem to have flourished in the mild temperatures and moist conditions. You know the Peanuts character that walks around with a swarm of flies surrounding him with every step, well that was us all day today. This morning we thought that the gnats were going to be a menace for a few early hours and then disappear during the heat of the day. We weren't so lucky. The clouds that kept threatening rain didn't allow the sun to heat things up enough to scare the bugs off. We became so bothered that we actually hoped for rain with the thought that a good shower might chase the gnats off. Once again, not so lucky. The skies allowed us to stay dry all day. We are probably lucky that we didn't see other people, or rather other people didn't see us today because we certainly looked like two wackos walking through the desert with ridiculous smiles on our faces, waving our arms, clapping our hands and laughing at the swarms of gnats. Mental toughness is definitely a necessary attribute when you put yourselves outside, on foot, for the majority of the year. It's eye opening to both of us that something as small as a gnat can offer us such an enormous mental challenge. We would think that today's greatest challenge would have been finding a good tentsite or keeping our feet from becoming sore and blistered or any of the many other hurdles that come with the long distance hiking lifestyle, and yet we find ourselves going crazy over the sound of a tiny gnat flying in our ear, or eye, or nose, or mouth. It really is unbelievably annoying! We refuse to let them win though. We simply had to remind ourselves that if these small pests are the biggest problem we are facing today then we really don't have any need to complain. Seriously, life is good, and living outside in the elements offers so many fantastic moments and experiences. Tonight, for instance, we are camped out in the middle of the San Rafael Desert and the moon is so beautiful and bright that as we move around camp we don't even need to use a headlamp. The rock outcroppings along the San Rafael Swell are glowing with the reflection of moonlight and the peaceful quiet that the desert offers could never be spoiled by even the largest of gnat swarms. Witnessing tonight's peaceful beauty was only achieved by enduring today's mental challenge. Does it make the view better or the moonlight brighter to have put up with the annoying gnats all day long? We're sure it doesn't, but the calming silence might seem even quieter now that the buzzing gnats have retired for the night. The important thing for us is knowing that no matter what size the challenge is packaged in we are willing to face it, and recognize that life is going to put all of us in a position to need to endure. So, as you face the many challenges life presents you keep in mind that no matter how difficult things seem and no matter how "noisy" life becomes, if you can stay focused on the challenge and face whatever comes "flying" at you, you will find that the calm that overcomes you after the "buzzing" subsides will reward your endurance and empower you with the confidence that no matter what face the world shows you, you can look back with a peaceful smile.

Your Friends on the ADT,
Randy and Sheri
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