M O U N T   M A R C Y

Adirondack State Park
Upstate New York

By the time I reach Marcy Dam it's already starting to get dark. I've got a pretty bad limp going on now. Fortunately, I notice through some trial and error that I can relieve the pain if I keep my knee locked and swing my stiffened leg in small half circles away from my body as I walk along the trail. The motion it produces makes me feel a little like a peg-legged sailor as I hobble along.

The moon is peeking over the tree tops, promising to light my way with its moonlight rays. Hey, that rhymes. I'm a poet and didn't know it. Hey, that rhymes too.

With more than two miles to go before my hike is over, the evening starts to cast its dark shroud over the forest. I start to wonder just how dark it will get and if I can hike unaided without a light source. I recall having some carrots last night so maybe my eyes will start leveraging that nutritional event to help me out of this bind?

The evening turns even darker and I'm still a ways from completing the hike. Maybe I should call it a hobble instead? What I'm doing now really wasn't hiking. I then start to think about bears. Are they smart enough to know when a passer-by isn't operating at 100 percent? Will they consider me disadvantaged, perhaps an easy mark?