50 Hikes
Autumn leaves created a kaleidoscope on the muddy trail as I slogged up Owls Head Mountain in Long Lake, in October 2015. I was 49 years old and facing major changes in the coming year. In February I would turn 50, and I was less than thrilled about the milestone. Age had never really mattered to me, probably because I had been blessed by good health. But 50, I realized, is half a century, and by doing some simple math, I concluded I could no longer say I was “middle aged.”
In addition to turning 50, I knew in the next few years my three children would leave for college. After they left, I planned to sell the home where I had raised them to move to a town 40 minutes north and live with my fiancé and his two
