The Ring: Finding Fellowship in the Massanuttens
"If you're afraid, you're on the right path. Lift your chin and smile at the monsters in the forest." ~ @WickedTrailRunning "'Kithship' is intimacy with the landscape in which one dwells and is entangled." ~ Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Rooted I was mildly curious about this 71 mile journey on the Massanutten trail when Johnny finished it in 2023, but it was kind of like watching dangerous wildlife in awe from a safe distance: fascinating but unapproachable. In 2024, I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and I made it through the first 25 miles before dropping and promising I would return. And so began a year-long obsession with a feat that seemed just beyond my reach. As the end of August drew closer, so did a heavy sense of dread and depression, and I had to focus only on what was right in front of me; if my mind wandered to scrambling over rocks in the woods in the middle of the night while my body was sitting at my desk under fluorescent lights o...
