The Valley Part I:Two Paths

Life has always amazed me in its ability to surprise you with options. It is assumed in our current culture that sometime in late adolescence, or early adulthood, one sets out on a chosen path for life and then remains in pursuit of said path until retirement. In my experience I have found that this isn't always the case. From the epic realm of morality to simple daily tasks life frequently presents us with options that were not anticipated and are occasionally completely surprising in nature, leaving you alone to make a choice. Not all that long ago I found myself in just such a situation, and the decision I made lead to some remarkable results. Some of you may remember the time, though few know the circumstances.

My friends and co-workers will remember that several months ago I disappeared for several days. Upon my return I offered only the explanation that "I went hiking." Those of you closest to me found this excuse to be somewhat suspect, and rightly so. At the time I apologized for the simplicity of that explanation, and assured you that there was nothing left to be known. I now apologize to you for the lack of complete honesty, and for the time delay. Unfortunately, at the time, my tongue was tied by a mixture of personal embarrassment and governmental restrictions. Recently the latter factor has been removed and I am now free to tell a story that is too good keep to keep to myself.

I enjoy such outdoor activities as running, biking, and swimming. Bearing this in mind it was only a matter of time until I undertook to participate in a triathlon. Despite the early challenge of getting into the proper physical condition, I found the training to be quite enjoyable. In fact, it wasn't long until I started looking for some kind of performance boost. After a short search I discovered an article in my favorite adventure magazine touting the performance enhancing abilities of Ginseng. Excited about this new find I dropped the magazine in mid-sentence and ran out to the drug store. It was not long before I was taking the supplement in heavy and frequent doses. What I had failed to learn from the rest of the half-read article was that despite its performance enhancing abilities, Ginseng is known to cause insomnia in heavy and frequent doses. Needless to say, it was not long before I could not sleep at night, or during the day, or at any time at all.

Recovering from Ginseng induced insomnia is not an easy task. After several weeks I found that the best way to get some sleep was to totally exhaust myself just prior to going to bed. With this goal in mind I took to the habit of taking rigorous hikes in the late afternoon and evening. On the evening of my disappearance I set out on one of these hikes (see, I told you I went hiking).

Few people know that just to the north of our illustrious capital city lies one of the wildest areas in our state. The Stony Valley is the second largest roadless wilderness in the state of Pennsylvania, and seeing that it lies on the northern border of the Fort Indiantown Gap military base, it receives more visits from errant artillery shells than it does from humans. For these reasons, and a few more, the valley is my favorite place to hike. For the hike in question I had decided to pay a visit to the Stone Tower, one of the last remnants of an old coal mining operation on the top of Stony Mountain. And so, with the sun making its decent in the west I set out over some rugged terrain to achieve my goal.

The Stony Mountain and Valley earn their names well, and a trail on the mountain is less of a trail than a meandering pile of loose rocks. To reach the top of the mountain one needs physical stamina and mental focus. While the former is gained with time the latter is lost. It was not long before it required an effort of will to keep my eyes focused on the ascent ahead instead of off into the woods in the hopes of seeing some wildlife. In a brief moment of fate, my eyes happened to return to the trail just at the right time to see something that froze my body in mid-step. To say that the Stony Valley is a wild area implies that wild animals live there. The valley is the proven home of deer, bear, bobcat, coyote, and numerous other species of animals that leave their tracks up and down the mountainside. However, what I saw on that trail was far to feline to be a bear track and far to large to be a bobcat track. There in a small patch of mud a few feet ahead of me lay what was unmistakably the track of a mountain lion.

Although the mountain lion officially does not roam wild anywhere east of the Mississippi (except for a small protected area in Florida), Pennsylvanians report hundreds of sightings each year. Due to this fact, the mountain lion had become something of a fascination for me. It represented the original wild nature of our land, and I yearned for its return to the area. You can imagine my excitement at finding evidence of one in my backyard. I was now faced with two very clear options. Ahead of me was the Stone Tower, it was my goal and provided me with a clear path back to my car, home, and bed. To my left was the path of the mountain lion, promising only uncertainty and risk. With the sun sinking closer and closer to the hills, I took a moment to pause and then turned left and headed off on the trail of the lion.




Author's note: Obviously this is just the first of several installments. Stay tuned I hope to post each new part on a weekly bases. I've also posted several times in the last few days, so check out the previous posts if you haven't visited in a while.