Hiking Adventures: Metaphor

To every thing…. There is a season… And a time to every purpose under heaven – Pete Seeger (1962)

This section of the New England Trail along the Metacomet brought varied terrain, varied experiences. A meandering trail with a singular purpose, to keep the attention and interest of those who wander. Our seven-and-a-half-mile hike included road walk sections, including a dangerous road crossing, hilly grasslands, woodlands, overlooks, and rocky ledges and cliffs.

The first section of this hike brought us to the summit of Short Mountain, an easy to moderate climb with rewards of great views of Southington and Bristol. Hikers ascend technical terrain and traverse a narrow cliff section, with uneven footing. Coming off this section of trail, we were able to peak into the Timberline Golf Course before crossing Southington Road. Take care here, cars travel fast and visibility is limited by a curve in the road.

The route then travels about a mile and a half along Edgewood Road, a beautiful neighborhood and quiet street.

Turning back off into the woods, we were greeted with a wide path and gentle climbs. Two white-tailed deer made their presence known as they frolicked in the glacial valleys just below us and up the rocky ledges ahead. We enjoyed the calmness and relative ease of the trail up to the West Rock. This lookout gives almost a 360 degree view of the valley below and the parallel Compounce Ridge.

The trail from West Peak to our destination, East Peak, has some extreme descents and inclines. Take the descent section slowly and deliberately. The rocky ledges contain lose rock and slippery footing. Hiking poles are a safety line for navigating unsure footing. The ascent up to East Peak was far less technical than the trail down, but equally steep. We finally reached Castle Craig, the highest point along the New England Trail in Connecticut.

This week, my oldest daughter celebrated her 21st birthday, my middle child attended her last Homecoming dance as a high school student, my youngest is only a year behind her. The seasons are such a colloquial metaphor for the passage of time, but I wander through the lightly pathed forest of parenting, I am, in fact, entering my fall season. Like a tree hanging on to its beautifully changing leaves, I cling to the fleeting moments.

There are beautiful pastures, calm easy trails, road walks with wide shoulders. There are also times of uneven footing, poorly blazed trails, and boulders that must be scaled. We rely on those who have come before us and our own understanding, but sometimes the right path is hard to find. We celebrate, but we also make mistakes, we backtrack, hope we don’t run out of daylight, out of time. We climb the boulders and, in the end, we find the beauty at the summit in the lives we help shape and guide, but that were never meant to control. They forge their purpose, and we continue ours, in not-so-perfect synchrony.