Monday, January 6th, 2023
I have no photographs for this article, or any special hikes to detail. All I have are a few short thoughts. I will talk about them, as some day you will have them too, or may have already had them.
This past summer, I hiked two strenuous trails above 11,000 feet in elevation. I hiked a good number around 9,000 and 10,000 feet. After leaving Colorado, I covered longer distances, but not so much elevation change as I crossed Utah and southeast Arizona. I felt strong, in decent shape, and experience no health issues. I read an article based on research, back in November, about how staying healthy once you are older than 65, can be greatly enhanced by walking 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. For me that is 3.5 to 4 miles. For most of December through January, I hiked about 4 miles each day for six days a week. At New Years, I spend 4 days cross country skiing in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Skiing is a little more strenuous than hiking, as your arms and different core muscles are involved.
I felt good and strong. I figured I had a good chance to keep living this nomad, outdoors lifestyle for a while. I was 5 days from a flight to Minneapolis to again ski with my friends, this time to the Lake Superior North Shore and the Boundary Waters Wilderness, when I ran out of breath.
I was fine during the day and while walking, but at night when I would lay down to sleep I could not catch my breath. On the 3rd night with little to no sleep, at 2 a.m., I drove to the small emergency room at the hospital in Blythe, California. Perhaps I had COVID. From there, they sent me via Life Line helicopter to JFK Memorial in Palm Springs. I won’t go into any detail about those days except to say while there, I experienced the first 2 points in my life, of complete despair. I had a very small “micro” heart attack, and left with 3 stents in my arteries.
On my last morning there, I talked to the cardiologist, and told him I had been walking 4 miles per day. I asked if I needed to stop. He said “absolutely do not stop and don’t ever stop”. He told me if my heart was not as strong as it was, I would most likely be dead.
So, I walked a couple of miles the day after I was released. But things are different now. At least in my experience, you aren’t old when you say you are. And you aren’t old when you can collect full Social Security checks. You may not even feel old when you look in a mirror. But, when you step out for a walk, and you are not sure you can trust your body to get you back, you are old. And things will never be quite the same.
Starting All Over 