At thirty-six, Asher Hudson thought he was in the best physical shape of his life. But this trail was brutal. With sixty pounds of weight on his back with his hiking and camping gear inside it, Asher felt his thighs burning from the exertion. Stair-stepping, weightlifting, karate and judo classes were meant to keep him lean and mean, but the satellite map he used from his phone app was leading him into uncharted territory. “Fuck.” He paused to look upwards. The ‘trail’ narrowed to what looked to him like a dried-up stream bed. Small, rocky, and vanishing. Since he was dehydrated, Asher removed the heavy pack, which took a load off his shoulders and low back. He set it on top of his hiking boots and removed a plastic water bottle. He tipped it up and drank some but was careful not to guzzle too much. He had no idea where freshwater sources were here. Asher slid the bottle back into the pouch and checked his phone app for a location. He had ‘pinged’ a spot to camp overnight, but he was several hours away from it. “What am I doing?” he asked himself. He leaned his butt against a huge boulder and tried to make sense of his phone display. It presented a trail. But, in real life there wasn’t one. Taking a deep breath, Asher hoisted his pack to his aching shoulders and continued trudging. Up. Up. Up. His gaze on the ground, avoiding twisting an ankle on the rocky terrain, Asher ran his hand over his beard and tried to find peace. Relief. That’s why he went on this journey. His life had become complicated. Confusing. And if he didn’t get away from it, and himself somehow, he was going to lose his mind. He may be far away from his workplace and his home, but he couldn’t run away from his inner space. His thoughts. So, with him on this trek to find solace, he carried a load much heavier than the sleeping bag and tent on his back. He carried the weight of the world’s troubles and his own lack of will to continue living in it. An hour later, Asher stared through the tall trees at the sky. The weather was supposed to be mild for the weekend. But in March, that was iffy. He knew the risks and took them, hoping for a new insight, hope. He was hoping to find hope. The beginning of this adventure was six in the morning. He loaded his SUV with preowned camping gear and drove to the base of a mountain. No one knew where he was and he wanted to keep it that way.
