🪧 Trail Marker #5 — Presence, Gratitude, and the Path Ahead
“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
— Henry David Thoreau
The heat of the summer softened as we gained altitude on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail on Mt. Washington. For what felt like miles, the ridgeline sat ahead of us, framed by open blue sky. We climbed through lush green vegetation, stepping carefully over wet rocks as cold water rushed beneath our feet.
My attention kept drifting upward toward the ridge and the unknown waiting at the top.
That memory sits with me now, along with Thoreau’s words. As I rebuild strength in my leg, I’m reminded that progress comes from repeating the same physical and mental actions again and again. Each deliberate movement, each intentional thought, helps create both the physical trail and the mental trail toward the life I want.
Both are essential. Both lead to success and significance.
When we climbed out of the ravine that day, we entered the section that gives Mt. Washington its name, the rock pile. No soil. Just boulder after boulder resting on weathered stone. At times, we could hear water rushing beneath the rocks as we carefully found our way toward the summit.
I’m doing my best not to anticipate too much of my own coming “rock pile”, the second knee surgery. Instead, I am grateful that this phase feels more like the plush, green ascent of Tuckerman’s Ravine. Yes, the climb is steady and demanding, but the beauty around me; the progress, the support, the possibilities, fuels me more than the strain slows me.
As we celebrate this season of gratitude and Thanksgiving, I’m choosing to stay present. I’m focusing on what is and what can be not what I fear or what I cannot control.
What are you focused on?
And what trails, physical or mental, are you creating to live your best life?
Happy Trails.
🔥 Campfire Update
Trail Date: November 28, 2025 — Week 5 of Rehab
The campfire is warm, and the embers light the faces of the friends gathered around it. Here’s this week’s snapshot of recovery and renewal:
- Swelling and pain have decreased, now just Advil and Tylenol a few times a day
- Walking without the cane, slow but steady, and confidence is growing
- Knee mobility now over 133°
- Currently reading: A Talk in the Woods – Voices Along the Appalachian Trail by Cary Segall
Small fires of progress — steady, warm, and real.
🌲 Trail Notes
Be grateful for both progress and setbacks — both help forge the trails that make our lives honest, full, and complete.
Until we talk again,
Two knees rebuilt. One dream revived. A life rebuilt, one step at a time.
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