If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed;
If not, 'tis true this parting was well made.
Julius Caesar Act 5 Scene 1
...the sun was hitting my eyes. I had fallen asleep outside the tent. The remaining embers of the fire were still going, but barely doing anything worth writing about. I had no idea what time it was. My watch was somewhere. I had no idea where we were. We stopped and made camp somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. I wondered if Jommy was up. There were some early anxious thoughts about what I was going to do if he wasn't up.
Sometimes it's best to keep things to oneself. It was the year before I graduated from college and I took a trip to a foreign country with my roommate. We went to Mongolia. Why exactly? I had heard that it was a pretty awesome country to travel to. That it resembled Montana. Well I had never been to Montana before so I'm not sure how accurate to judge that statement. I left with Jommy* to the capital and then we kinda backpacked throughout the countryside. Hitching a ride here and there. Walked countless miles on back roads, no roads, and hanging out with people who didn't communicate in English.
*(Here's the story behind the name of Jommy. One night in college I was drinking and had the bright idea that when I was going out I was going to speak in a Jamaican accent. After many beers the accent slowly morphed into where I placed a j at the beginning of every word. When I came back I started talking to my roommate about drinking and said Jome on Jommy. Never mind the fact that I didn't put a j on on, that would be plain silly. So I called him Jommy and would say Jome on Jommy. And it would have ended at that point, but he got annoyed by it, and that was my cue to continue to call him that. And eventually the name stuck).
...I woke up before the alarm went off from my cell phone. I got up, walked my dog, and then ate some breakfast. I packed up some things. Took shorts, boxers, and another pair of shoes. I took two Kashi bars for the run. I got in my car and got ready to go. I stopped for gas and got a Gatorade. I was going to Blowing Rock to run. It had been nearly 19 months. It had been to long my friend. The last time I was there was in October of 2010. That was a long time ago. Back when I was a different person. I was thinking about that time the night before. That was back before so many things had gone down.
The drive up wasn't that bad. It was less than two hours. I got to Moses Cone and realized that I had never been here this early before. It was a little weird. The parking lot was kinda full. I ended up running a mile warm up around Bass Lake. It was warm. I was slightly bummed out. I had traveled here to get away from that. But it wasn't humid. I ended up changing out of my flats and put on my regular running shoes. I thought back to all the times that I have been up to the park. So many memories. So many thoughts crept back to my head.
...the first time I went in 2004, the guys that I drove quoted Anchorman the entire time and named the island in the middle of the lake Whore Island
...the time some guy on a horse called me a faggot
...the time some guy on a horse yelled at me and my runners for stopping when we saw his wife's horse bucking. And then yelling at us and asking us don't we know what to do when a horse does this? To which I replied, no I live in a city and drive a car.
...the time when I first ran at the park and had to walk because my calves were so tight.
...the time I ran there after I got booted from CCHS and ran the fire tower route in 73 minutes. I called Spells before I went and he was wondering if this was my suicide note, and I kinda realized it does sound like I'm going to kill myself.
...the time my team had a huge snowball fight at the manor.
...the last time I went with CL and Kent.
It's not like Mongolia has a reputation as being a place to hang out and crash and burn. It was actually cool. Not really that much of ruins or stuff of that nature. Just a herding society. We had made camp that night and had a great time under the stars. We woke up and knew that the nearest village was a couple of miles. Well why not go there and see if they have a hostel/hotel that we could crash in. We were dirty and I really wanted to use a bathroom that had a seat. We ended up walking through the country fields, it was pretty cool. Long stretches of land that you could see forever. We talked about goofy stuff, that in all honesty the themes and language haven't changed in the years that have passed when I converse with other individuals.
We made our way into the town/village. We started to walk down the main street. The scene has been set. You had Jommy a guy from the mountains and me a goofy guy with bleached hair that looked really bad. We were walking down the street. Everyone was looking at us. No they weren't looking at us, they were staring. It was unnerving. Then all of a sudden we realized that we were surrounded. There was a circle of people around us. Welp this can't be good, I thought. I was hoping of the faintest hope that maybe somebody spoke English. Then what happened next was like something out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. A sea of people parted and there stood this guy, who was like 6'5 300 pounds. Making some sort of noise at us, well not us, me. Jommy was being held by someone in the crowd and that's when I realized I was the one this huge guy was pointing and yelling out. This might not end well. I thought back to Raiders, I just need to get my gun out and shoot the guy. Well that wasn't going to happen. So I slowly started to walk back. The guy is still yelling at me, flailing his arms, looking rather unhappy. I slowly walk back and I stop. Well actually someone stopped me. Someone was holding my arms right by the triceps. Welp this can't be good, I thought.
...I thought about the steps that I had ran so many times in the park. The same steps retraced. The same route retraced. They finally got 321 fixed into two lanes on each side. It only had taken seven or eight years. I thought about all the good times I had here. I thought about the time I ran here when I thought it was rock bottom. I remember that run. It was September 19 2009, and it was a rat shipping out on a sinking ship. I ran up the fire tower and climbed all the way up top it. As some people know I have a severe fear of heights. The fire tower is like five stories high (maybe). I don't know. I usually make it two stories where I start to freak out and look down. I can make it to the top and then go straight back down. But not this time I climbed all the way up and gave out some yell. I thought about jumping. I thought about it. I looked down and realized that it probably wouldn't be that good of an idea. I figured that I hadn't seen a single soul that entire time I ran, and that the fall probably wouldn't kill me and that I would be paralyzed and would spend the rest of my life in that state and it wouldn't be that much fun.
For this run I did the fire tower route first. My calves were killing me within ten minutes. This was not a good sign. I ran to the fire tower. There are many memories here. RyGuyWhit crapping off the side of the mountain, my brother dropping as well. There are some cool views to see but I wasn't here for that. There are so many switchbacks it gets hard to get a rhythm. And then there is the end, its rather anti-climatic. It just kinda ends and you see the fire tower and you're like oh there it is. I walked up to it. I could see all the things carved in it. CCHS XC 07. Moments like that when you think about all the things. That you think of things back then and you realize..
I was being held. Jommy was telling me this was not good. Yep. Do you think we will be all right. Nope. Then it happened. The guy who was holding me, started to take my shirt off, then my pants, then my shoes, and then he pushed me back in the middle of the circle. There I was in my socks and boxers. Staring at some huge Mongolian guy who was wearing what looked like a diaper. He was yelling and pointing a finger at me. Yep I'm going to die. And then he started to run at me. This can't be good. There's not much you can do in a moment like that. He got me. He gave me a big bear hug. And then what seemed quite amazing he flipped me and there were my eyes looking at the ground. He had me in a bear hug and was jumping up and down. Oh this is how I will die. Then he flipped me around again and then placed me on the ground. Then he started to laugh.
...I stayed for a bit at the fire tower. I didn't want to climb. I ended going back to manor to eat my bar and get some water. I decided to travel down to Trout Lake and maybe go to the other mountain that kinda blowed but it would be worth a chance to see. I didn't know that much about this trail and got lost the last time I was here with CL. The one thing I remember about the train is that it starts out downhill. Crap you have to run back up this. And I forgot the whole trail to the lake is downhill. Double crap. Then I saw the sign to Rich Mountain. I remember the name and what it was like. Kinda lame. Not really that cool. I think I ran through cows. Not a cow field, but actual cows. And then it kinda ended up a spiral and you got some sort of weird rock platform that greeted you. I ran the trail. It wasn't that glamorous. It was what I kinda remembered. I remembered the raptor pen gate and knew I was close. I remembered the clearing cow field that kinda didn't have a trail and that I had to trust myself that I remembered running this part five years ago. I ended up running a circle at the top and then remembered that you had to take a side trail to get to the top. I hadn't seen a soul the entire time I ran. And there at the top was an old couple and their dog, a corgi. I kinda forgot that I look kinda homeless with long hair and a beard. I exchanged some pleasantries and said what up dog. The couple didn't return anything. I left. The run back was not that enjoyable. I was getting dehydrated and the sun was out. I stopped at some waterfalls and got some water and got my hat wet. I got back to the manor and ran back to Bass Lake. I passed two women on horses, without incident.
We came to realize that they had someone in the town see us walking through the countryside and decided that we were Americans and wanted to give us a scare. There was some guy who spoke English, and he relayed this information to us. Apparently this was some old ritual where they greeted visitors, but that was something from a long time ago. They wanted to treat us to a good time. And frankly we had a good time. I can't really tell you what Mongolian wine, beer, or spirits taste like because I can't remember. We ended leaving the next day. Can't say that I would forget something like that.
...I got done running. Twenty something miles or longer? I wasn't sure. I figured whatever was fine. I stretched and then changed. I drove to Woodlands BBQ. Even though it's not that great, I go here after running and it seems good. I forgot to order the sliced pork and got chopped but it still tasted good. I had some blackberry cobbler. The steam opened up the pores. The drive back was uneventful. Nothing to report. I left realizing that I may not go back to this place for another year. It wasn't some sort of quest or vision or self-realization that I have gone before in previous times, but I thought about the people I've run with on those trails. The times that I've had. Those ghost were with me. The feelings, the conversations, the experiences. They will always be there for me. Things like that never go away.
Jommy and I lived together for my last year of college and as the year went on it became apparent that we were going to go our separate ways. I had lived with him for three years. That was pretty long and I wasn't sure what was going to happen after that. Would I ever see him again? What would he do? What would I do? Or lease to our apartment didn't end till July 31. That day we cleaned up and moved the remaining stuff out of the apartment. I really can't remember what I said to him or what he said to me. I was hoping that this wouldn't be the last time that we saw each other, but in the back of my mind I was kinda realizing that this was probably going to be the case. I remember when we were saying our good byes, he wanted to give me a hand shake and I slapped his hand and gave him a man hug. He was a little off put by it and thought it was a joke. But it wasn't a joke. He was more than some random guy I roomed with, he became one of my good friends. After that it was hard to stay in touch. I called him a few times, but we weren't the ones that did that sort of things. He ended up moving to Greensboro then to Michigan. He got married. He still lives in Michigan. I think. The last time I saw him was on July 31st 2004. I still miss my friend.
The Mongolian story was on my old blog, so if this sounds familiar it's because it is. I've ran all the trails at Moses Cone, on this trip I did not run the Maze, because it's lame and the the trail that is to the right of the manor that leads it's way back to Bass Lake, because it's longer and I didn't want to run anymore than I had to.
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