There was a dusting of frost on the leaves around me when the glow of morning light filled my little patch of forest. The suburban area around me was slowly coming alive with people in ties heading off to their offices with coffee in hand and the weight of the world on their shoulders. With all the dry leaves around me, I don’t want to risk the open flame of my camp stove for breakfast. I’ll stop for breakfast after I’ve got a few miles under me. With just a few minutes I have everything back together and I hoist the pack onto my shoulders and haul the cart up the steep hill and out of the forest to the side of the road. Because of the blister I had yesterday, I’ve switched to my sneakers today. Thankfully, that takes the pressure off and my feet feel great. Even the raw tendon that hurt so badly the last several days is suddenly feeling completely healed. I had mentioned those things in a Facebook post last night, and it feels like a few people must have prayed about it. It’s a little warmer than the last few mornings, but not by much. Before long I come to a long stretch of steep declines and switchbacks as I near a river. There’s a state park around the river and hiking trails so I’m frequently nodding greetings to hikers and bikers as they pass me eying my luggage with confused expressions. There’s an ancient abandoned train station at the bottom of the ravine. It has an eerie, haunted look to it, even though it’s covered on all sides with graffiti. It’s nearly an hour before I make it up the long hill on the other side of the river. After that long up-hill trek I’m ready for my breakfast and there’s a good concrete guardrail that provides a perfect place to sit where I can look out over the river. Before long I’m munching on a granola bar while I wait for the water to boil, and within twenty minutes I’ve got a piping pot of instant oatmeal. When that’s gone I rinse out the pot and boil some more water for a cup of instant coffee. I’m not rushed for time today, so sit for a while looking out over the river while I slowly sip my coffee till it’s gone.
With a
full belly and a little caffeine, I pick up the pace with refreshed energy.
Within an hour or two I come into the old historical part of Ellicott City. The
old stone coffee shops and boutiques are buzzing with gen-Xers sipping their
gourmet coffee and gentlemen in tweed overcoats. The whole city looks like a
scene out of Miracle on 34th St.
Rather than awkward stares, I get nods of understanding. I like this place, but
within a few miles I’m back into thick forest.
I’m
hoping to be in Randallstown by nightfall. It’s the only town ahead, but it’s
still quite a distance away. I’d like to be there for church in the morning,
but I’m not sure I’ll make it. I feel like I’ve been going up-hill all day. I
pretty much have. The terrain is almost mountainous, and the roads become very
narrow. There’s cliff on one side of the road and a mountain drop-off of the
other side, and so many sharp curves that people aren’t seeing me alongside the
road until the last-minute and there isn’t anywhere for either of us to go. If
I get stuck in a tight spot just as two vehicles come around corners from opposite
directions things could take a horrible turn for the worst in seconds! It’s not
dark yet, but I’ve only got an hour or two of daylight at the most. This is plenty
dangerous as it is, but if I can’t make it to Randallstown by dusk, I’m going
to have to get off the road and give up for the night. I’m praying for protection
and strength to make it to safety before nightfall.
As I
come to a more open spot where I can step off the road for a second, a super-duty
pickup slows to a stop and large black man rolls down the window.
“Where
you headin’?”
“I’m
trying to make it to Randallstown by nightfall.” I see his forehead furrowing
as he wonders out loud how far that is and whether it’s safe for me to walk. I
can tell he’s not headed that way.
“Put
your stuff in the back; I’ll take you there.” I whisper a thanksgiving for the
answer to prayer as I lift my cart into the truck body and climb into the cab.
He’s got an adorable little girl fast asleep in the seat behind him. We make
small talk as I watch the narrow roads flash by. I tell him he might have just
saved my life and he laughs but doesn’t disagree.
I’ve
still got an hour of daylight when he drops me off at the edge of Randallstown.
I’ve got my eye on a small park on the other side of town, so I start walking
through the clean, inviting neighborhood.
A Hispanic gentleman greets me warmly on the sidewalk and says, “Nice to
meet you!” before even asking my name. I notice several of the business signs
have crosses on their signs or some other identification with Christianity. The
whole town has a strong Christian feel to it compared to most of the places I’ve
been. As I near the far side of town I pass “Colonial Baptist Church” It’s a
large, modern brick building. I’m looking forward to attending there in the
morning. Just across the street there’s a McDonalds so I order a couple
sandwiches and find an outlet to charge my phone while I go on WiFi.
It’s
dark by the time I walk out of the McDonalds. The park I saw on Google maps isn’t
what I was expecting. It’s swampy and so heavily overgrown with vines that I
can’t even walk into it from the road. I finally find a way in after going down
into a residential area. I feel like I’m almost in someone’s back yard when I
pull into the forest and look for a dry flat spot to roll out my sleeping bag.
It’s still warmer out than it’s been recently, and I don’t’ feel sleepy. After
laying there for about an hour I decided to go for a walk around the
neighborhood. My things are tucked safely back into the woods and it’s dark
enough so that no one will see them, so I leave it all behind and just enjoy
walking like a normal person until I feel ready to settle into my
home-away-from-home in the swamp.
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