Suddenly, the journey itself - not just the destination - is a physical and psychological reward. This reward reminds us to stay in the present, to be less goal-oriented, to remember the future is not yet here. We live in a continuous sequence of nows.

The rain intensified to normal showerhead rate. Then it felt like an old nozzle from before water conservation was an issue. I imagined a bucket being dumped over my head. 

I learned that Mt Washington’s reputation for the “worst weather in America” refers not to its continuously awful conditions but to the summit’s ability to attract the most screaming of winds, the most rapid deterioration of visibility and temperature at a moment’s notice.

To me, “generosity in the social context of the thru-hiking community” is best a one-way transaction within a particular interaction but part of a web of interconnected mutuality as we all pass gifts on to strangers.