My hiking friend Baguette warned me that some sections of the Arizona Trail south of the Grand Canyon were monotonous. She said the terrain was mostly flat, and the trail passed through large stands of Ponderosa pine with no views.
I’ve found her words to be true. That's not to say the trail has been boring, only that there have been many miles with the same scenery. There have only been a few diversions from the flat forest land. In particular, the trail crossed remnants of an old railroad line and an occasional broad meadow.
During these sections of sameness, which bordered on tedious, my thoughts returned to the several uncertainties I've had about the trail and back at home. Anxiety has likely increased because I've had too much time to think.
One of my biggest concerns has been the well-being of my son and his family, whose lives have been turned upside down in North Carolina by Hurricane Helene. My wife has repeatedly assured me that they were coping as well as they could. There was little I could do to help. They still didn’t have power or clean water, and the roads from our home to Asheville remained closed.
