Taking the Thru-Way, Part Too: Close for Comfort?

I’ve been reading a lot about a trail close to home – my new home, that is, in Northwest Michigan. The trail is called the North Country Trail (NCT) and is one of eleven nation-wide and regional trails that fall under the NPSNorth Country Trail Sign jurisdiction and the umbrella of the U.S. of A.’s “National Scenic Trails.”

The North Country Trail is not only twice as long as its National Scenic sister, the Appalachian, but spans more than 1,000 miles beyond its closest sibling in size (the CDT), measuring some 4,600 miles from the northeastern border of New York state, to the center of North Dakota. You probably haven’t heard much about the NCT, for two big reasons: (1) it’s not as mountainous and popular as the PCT, AT and CDT; and (2) it’s technically not “finished”…yet. Though its creation began in 1980, the trail is still being created, with “open” segments in each of the seven U.S. states it traverses (NY, PA, OH, MI, WI, MN & ND).

But THAT is what I like about it. Not only is the North Country close to me, it is a work in progress.

Isn’t that what all of our journeys are – a faith, a walk, a verse, a place – in progress? If our entire lives are the “through hike,” isn’t it fair to say that most of us might THINK of our jobs, homes or cars as the long term thru-ways…but really those are section hikes, things that are close to us, but only a part of the journey. Perhaps the real “thru-hikes” are the lasting relationships, the building memories, the God who walks with us, and the earth we hopefully care for (and vice versa) along the way.

But I’m no dummy – arguably speaking. I love to think about mastering something, even a trail. I dream of someday completing something big, which might even include backpacking the entire Appalachian Trail. My latest vision, though, is something a bit more peaceful, or at least full of pieces: like hiking the whole NCT, 100+ miles/year.

In reality, I may have to settle for a few section hikes along the way. Maybe I’ll piece my way through the NCT even as it grows to its full potential. Maybe I will keep finding new “trails” in my life that make me pause, count the time and the cost, and find new ways to complete it, within my constraints and competing dreams, by the time I’m in my 70’s or 80’s. (Go ahead, say I won’t! 🙂 )

Maybe…we make things happen. Maybe things make US happen.  But I’m beginning to see that the paths we trod form us, for better or for worse, as much or more than the other way around. Yet as one inspired writer once said, “though we may walk through the darkest valleys, we shall fear no evil.” (Ps. 23)

The question I leave you with at this intersection is this: When we pause in our thru-hike to examine the section, will we look ahead on the trail and realize that it wasn’t actually the trail that was calling us over the long haul? Might it not be something else, someONE else?:

NCT0424-esc-webTRAILmap
The NCT, Courtesy of NYT 2009

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the…Creator of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

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