I wanted to post something encouraging, and I looked back at what I wrote last year and decided that it summed things up, so I justed did a little editing…
To the people who are doing this for the 1st time, this is likely what you will experience, and to the people who have participated last year and the year before, we know WHY we keep coming back…
Weather is looking better!
As for the few negative posts on the AMC site; People signed up for this for various reasons. We certainly cannot let a miniscule % of of the population, with different views, try and alter our decision to partake in this non-political memorial hike (not that it was their motive). All of us were affected by what happened 2 years ago, no doubt about that. Many of the people participating in the memorial hike knew people who lost their lives on Sept 11. We are doing something just a “little” special to unite all of us in climbing a few peaks and raising flags on their summits. We are not changing anything, or trying to. We are not pro-war, or pro-whatever. We are just a bunch of passionate caring souls, showing that WE care about what happened Sept 11th, and that what happened can NEVER be forgotten, EVER.
On Saturday, the concept of one united memorial will actually become 48+ smaller memorials. Each one will be a slightly different experience, some people singing, some people praying, people hugging, crying, reflecting, and all of those experiences will be something that most of us will likely remember for the rest of our lives. There probably will be many people on every peak. Other hikers will stop to reflect, take pictures, pray, ect. Lets make this a special day, in our own small way. I hope that everyone brings a camera, but regardless, never forget why we are doing this.
Have a safe hike everyone,
And as Mary reminded me 2 years ago,
“On every mountainside, let freedom ring….”
