Top of the world? Well, maybe not, but at 5,720 feet it is certainly way up there. The Devil’s Courthouse has a beautiful view of the distant mountain ranges. According to information on the web, the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee are visible from here. I don’t know if that is true on this Sunday because it is a little cloudy and overcast.
The walk from the road to the top is short but very steep. It is about a half-mile each way, with an elevation gain of 258 feet. While the trail is rated as moderate (although another site rated it as strenuous), it must be a little difficult because there are benches along the path to rest. I’ve noticed that the easy paths do not have rest areas.
The walk is beautiful. The forest is quiet and shadowy. The signs tell hikers to stay on the path because of the delicate ecosystem in this area. I have noticed in our hiking adventures that while not 100% true, most people tend to follow the posted guidelines at the different trails. This seems to change a little in relationship to access to streams and waterfalls. The water seems to have a pull on folks that has them forgetting the rules pretty quickly.
I find this path today difficult. I have problems with my lungs and they do not handle air efficiently. As a matter-of-fact they function a little over the 50% level. I have to pause and huff and puff frequently. It would be easy to not complete the walk, to give up, to surrender. When you have to stop as many times as I do, a half-mile hike like this seems to take forever. I am lucky to have a patience hiking partner. Well, today, I have three hiking partners, my wife and our two dogs. Like us, our dogs love it here. They get much more outdoor time and a lot more exercise than they did living in Miami.
Like I said though, it would be easy to quit this walk but that is not my nature. Headstrong, perhaps; foolish, maybe, but just for today, I refuse to allow my physical condition to totally rule my life. This does not mean I pay no heed to it for I do. I take better care of myself today than at any point in my life. It just means that I work within my limits which I define by action. I do not allow my limits to be defined my by a name or label.
This attitude is part of my intention to be untethered, not anchored. Being untethered or not anchored does not mean that I want to be drifting aimlessly like a leaf in the wind or a piece of debris on the ocean wave. It means I do not have to be attached to ideas, situations or conditions because that is the way it should, ought, must, has to be. At “your age” you should be. With “your medical conditions” you must. Because of “your physical conditions” you should not.
I don’t throw caution to the wild but I do not give up either. Today I am open to possibilities and to life. I will take the steep difficult paths and rest along the way. I will adjust myself to my physical reality. I will continue to do these things and if and when the day comes that I can no longer do them I will stop, adjust to where I am and continue to enjoy life.