When plans change

I've been planning to backpack the John Muir Trail, also known in Paiute as Nüümü Poyo or the "People's Trail," for three years now. But it's been elusive each time.

And this year is no exception...I'm now planning for next summer!

What's different this time is that it isn't my body that is not cooperating. Instead, it's my husband's. A really bad sprain and ligament tear is putting our plans on hold for this summer. Last year it was my stress fracture and the year before it was my hip replacement. Sometimes our bodies don't always go along with our plans, and this happens more often when we age.

We don't talk enough in the outdoor community about the logistics of aging bodies in adventure partnerships. Injuries compound, recovery timelines lengthen, the choreography of "both of us healthy at the same time in the right season AND we snag a permit" gets more complex. We're only getting older so that pressure sneaks up on me time and again when I wonder out loud whether or not next year my knees will be up for it, or if there won't be some other unexpected limitation that arises next summer.

I've now come to accept that the people's trail will be waiting.

The reality is this is always the case in life, but I've just had three summer seasons to think more about it. I'm no stranger to disappointment and yet I still don't like it. I was sad and wanted to go anyway. But at the same time I didn't really want to hike it solo. And really it was a dream of his that I bought into a few years ago and now it's mine, too, so it's really become a dream of ours. I want to do the trail together.

So, after a plan B, C, and D, I've now come to accept that the people's trail will be waiting.

What do I learn from this?

• It's OK to be disappointed when plans fall through, especially something I've been looking forward to for a long time.

• A change of plans bring new opportunities: now I am hiking a section with a friend and spending a week in a great city with my husband.

• My choice on how we managed this change might be different than your choice. Priorities are weighed and decisions are made with the information we have—there is no crystal ball.

• Looking on the bright side (which is always an option even in disappointment), I won't have 3 pounds of medical equipment I need to bring next year so my pack will be much lighter to carry! (Watch for an upcoming post about my quest to be an ultralight backpacker.)

Every year I plan this trail, I learn something new about gear, about my body, about what I actually want from a 211-mile trek through the High Sierra. The planning itself is a kind of wayfinding.

And for that, I'm grateful.

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Lea Appleton, PCC, NBC-HWC, is a Wayfinding Guide whose outdoor job is leading Wayfinding Days, Labyrinth Walks, and Team-Building Experiences and whose indoor job is coaching, writing, and speaking. She works with people who sense the path calling—and are learning to trust that it is worth following. Learn more at www.wildwayfinding.com.

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