hiking

[Guest guest]

We learned so much today at the girl scout hiking workshop. I didn't hike but

I watched and listened. They went on and on about not leaving trash, food,

toilet paper, in nature. They stressed taking care of nature etc. Then as we

were leaving one of my girls threw her plastic water bottle in the desert. I

asked her why she did it, she said " I couldn't find the trash can. "

So that's 1 out of 11 that may need to go to another workshop, lol

At 33 years old I think I am finally dealing with the idea that it is OK to

do what I can do physically and being content with staying at the bottom of

the trails so to speak.

I used to get depressed when an activity would come up that I couldn't do.

Today I was just fine.

I still do not know what the point to hiking is tho. Anyone know? I would

love to hear why it is so special.

jenny

[Guest guest]

> I still do not know what the point to hiking is tho. Anyone know? I

would

> love to hear why it is so special.

> jenny

>

Dear ,

A lot of people will not like my message, it is like talking about

colors in a chat for blind people...

The good thing about hiking, when you do it right, is about slow

steady phisical exercise, with a sprinkle of wonderful sightseing,

landscapes, and courios animals.

Is about having 80% of your attention on a single thing: moving your

body around, no much room left for stress.

Slow steady exercise many times can be a reward to the body: you can

try swimming for as long as you can, the feeling (tired and relaxed)

may be a good one.

I happened to hike for 10 days in a row, taking with me a sleeping

bag. It was very nice, it was also about getting out of the city.

I remember one time i sprained the usual ankle on a 3000 ft tall

mountain, i had to stay there 2 days and it was not healing, i had to

walk them down using a log for support. Doing that i created some

problem in the meniscus of the other leg...

So, the advice for some crazy CMT hiker is to definetly use ankle

protecting shoes, and talk with a trained doctor before doing it. I

bet if i did that now i'd be in a better shape.

P.S. riding a bike might be an alternative...

[Guest guest]

Danita,

Compared to others in my family I feel I have a mild case of

CMT as well. Talking with my father of the progression of the

disease, he feels I have a worse case then he does. At 55 he

still gets around but knows that a cane or wheel chair is not

far off. At 35 I look at that and realize that my days may be

numbered for hiking and having adventures. Something that

never crossed my mind at age 15, and barely sparked a thought

at age 25. The last ten years have brought many changes. I

have a hard time with zippers and buttons, Advil and Tylenol

are a major food group, pain is a constant companion. I have

grown more negative about it as well. That is the part that

makes my friends and family (and ultimately me) sad. As a

younger guy I was slower then others on the hikes, but every

trail I started, I finished. I hiked down to the base of a

waterfall in Oregon, getting there as the rest of the group was

going back up. With a smile I turned and started up with them.

I made it to the bottom, that was all that mattered to me.

One thing hiking with my wife does for me is remind me that I

may be slow, and the paths I chose need to be more thought out,

but I can still hit the trail and enjoy life. Pain is a

relative term. All humans have pain to deal with. To me the

pain of shutting myself away because I can't keep up is worse

then that after hiking. Sometimes the fear of pain is worse

then the pain would be. So I agree with you, every one with

CMT needs to hold on to the positive experiences they have in

life and use them to get past the not so positive ones. Of

course my wife needs to beat me over the head to remind me of

that at times… (giggle)

But I am rambling here, like Nike says, " Just do it " . I add,

Enjoy it, and then do it again.

Pettit