SUN JOURNAL • June 25, 2022
My granddaughter said recently, “I’ll do an overnight hike with you on the AT.” So, when I, my granddaughter and her father set foot on the Appalachian Trail off Route 17 with our overnight backpacks, what confronted me was not at all the AT that I had envisioned. Almost immediately, the terrain looms ominously if you are an 81-year-old man. “Papa,” she said with a big grin, ”you need to embrace the suck!” I thought about that. “Hmm, I think she means that I should learn to savor the pain, right?” To my surprise, dreaded day two on the trail seemed less intimidating, despite my sore quads and stiff back. I just may do another short Appalachian Trail section one more time, to see if I can learn to “embrace the suck.” ~ V. Paul Reynolds