{"id":66,"date":"2019-02-21T21:26:56","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T05:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/?p=66"},"modified":"2020-01-30T10:47:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T18:47:20","slug":"in-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/in-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"But First, an Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/festus_shot_me1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"328\" src=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/festus_shot_me1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/festus_shot_me1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/festus_shot_me1-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Early predilection for dusty trails, cowpoke! Chillin&#8217; with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ken_Curtis\">Festus<\/a> and a righteous ketchup stain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A site like this should probably begin with an introduction of sorts, to clarify its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/standingq-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-73\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/standingq-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/standingq-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/standingq-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/standingq-768x768.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 96px) 100vw, 96px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Five years ago I had the opportunity to drop off the radar for a spell to walk the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Appalachian_Trail\">Appalachian Trail (AT)<\/a>, from Maine to Georgia. It was just under 6 months of hiking, and when it was over I realized I had found a &#8216;home away from home&#8217; in the woods. During that walk I maintained <a href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/at2015\">a little blog site<\/a> for interested family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to track my progress and share some of the sights and sounds along the way. It ended up working well for that purpose, and unintentionally doubled as a de facto trip journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cdt_map1-e1550813054741.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cdt_map1-e1550813054741.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-74\" width=\"228\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cdt_map1-e1550813054741.png 451w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cdt_map1-e1550813054741-267x300.png 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 228px) 100vw, 228px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>CDT Map<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A blink or two later, its 2019 and I find myself on the verge of lighting out on another long walk, this time along the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Continental_Divide_Trail\">Continental Divide Trail (CDT)<\/a>, 3100-ish miles of continuous footpath between Mexico and Canada, through the high desert areas of New Mexico into the Rockies and other natural wonders as the trail sweeps north. If things go well, I expect this hike to take somewhere around 5-6 months, and for the same reasons cited above I intend to make occasional postings here, partly again for those interested in keeping up to date on progress, and partly again to serve as my long term record of the walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for setting expectations, there won&#8217;t be much fluff, but if you check in occasionally you should find some periodic updates- mostly pictures, some text and an occasional audio\/video clip. I can&#8217;t promise you&#8217;ll find any of it interesting, but you won&#8217;t be solicited, preached to or spied upon. I highly encourage comments and questions, the latter of which I&#8217;ll add to <a href=\"\/questions\">this running list<\/a>, since what one asks is often interesting to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On my last hike, I ended up adopting a song as a kind of informal motto for the trip. The song was &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/artsites.ucsc.edu\/GDead\/agdl\/esau.html\">My Brother Esau<\/a>&#8221; (The Grateful Dead), which included this chorus I found particularly compelling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-default is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;\u2026sometimes at night I dream, he&#8217;s still that hairy man,<br>shadowboxing the apocalypse, and wandering the land.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I had no such intent this time around, however in recent weeks a song from my childhood has been rattling around in my head. I finally concluded it must be asserting itself as a new motto song for this hike, so I&#8217;m going with it. The song is &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fHLJGxgi3qs\">I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew<\/a>&#8221; (Tom T. Hall), which includes this apropos refrain:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>So I washed my face in the morning dew,<br>bathed my soul in the sun,<br>washed my face in the morning dew,<br>and kept on movin&#8217; along.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I think that about covers it. You can expect my first post from the trail sometime in April, with perhaps one or two updates before then with general background on the CDT itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maxheap.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maxheap.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-79\" width=\"99\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maxheap.png 234w, https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/maxheap-162x300.png 162w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 99px) 100vw, 99px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Maxheap<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you kindly for checking in! <br>I&#8217;m Maxheap and I look forward to hearing from <strong>you<\/strong> down the trail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A site like this should probably begin with an introduction of sorts, to clarify its purpose. Five years ago I had the opportunity to drop off the radar for a spell to walk the Appalachian Trail (AT), from Maine to Georgia. It was just under 6 months of hiking, and when it was over I &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/in-the-beginning\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">But First, an Introduction<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-66","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>But First, an Introduction - 2019 CDT Sobo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/maxheap.net\/cdt2019\/in-the-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"But First, an Introduction - 2019 CDT Sobo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A site like this should probably begin with an introduction of sorts, to clarify its purpose. Five years ago I had the opportunity to drop off the radar for a spell to walk the Appalachian Trail (AT), from Maine to Georgia. 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Five years ago I had the opportunity to drop off the radar for a spell to walk the Appalachian Trail (AT), from Maine to Georgia. 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