I spent my Saturday hiking in Lake Somerville State Park & Trailway.  The park is made up of three different areas: Birch Creek, Nails Creek, and the Trailway.  The Trailway is a 13 mile trail that connects the Birch Creek area to the Nails Creek area.  I visited Nails Creek and hiked the from the park to Flag Pond and back, which is about three miles of the Trailway, six round trip.

The hike was fine.  The weather was decent.  I saw a few people riding horses on the trail, otherwise not much happened. I took a few pictures but nothing much really grabbed me to photograph.   All of this made me uncomfortable.  As I’m hiking I can’t stop wanting something to happen.  I kept wanting to turn a corner and see something beautiful.  I had this incredible desire to find something remarkable.

The problem was, I was not looking for something great for the sake of the discovery.  I was not just exploring out of curiosity. My anxiety was tied to the this blog. I was worried I would not have enough to write, not enough pictures to post.  My preoccupation with finding blog content was sapping the enjoyment of hiking.

I do not hike so that I can blog about it.  I blog about hiking because I enjoy it and I like sharing my enjoyment.  I do not want this to feel like a job, ever.  Which means it is time to make some changes.  The universe was screaming at me on this hike.  I was so caught up in my desire to create a good blog, I was tuning it out completely.

I am going to keep hiking, I am not necessarily going to write about it or post pictures every week.  If I have a really good trip and feel like I have something worth saying, I will write about it.  If something I see inspires me, I will take a photograph.  If not, I will just enjoy being outside and connecting with nature.

Even though I do not want to force blogs out of my hiking trips, I still want to regularly post on Voice of the Trail.  It has been really good for me to consistently put something together each week.  I love the feeling of coming up with an idea and then following it to completion.  I love feeling proud of the work that I have done.  In the past, I have not always been so good at finishing the things that I start.  I am working really hard to change those old habits.

Since I am not going to be writing about hiking each week, what will I be posting?  Well, I am going to keep the details a secret for the time being.  Everyone loves a bit of mystery right?  There are several different paths that I am looking into.  I am really excited about each option.  While I do not know exactly where the universe will lead me, it has gotten my attention and I am listening.