Balsam Lake Mtn. via Alder Lake Loop and Mill Brook Ridge Trail (All Trails Challenge NYNJTC Map 142)

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Balsam Lake Mtn. via Alder Lake Loop and Mill Brook Ridge Trail (All Trails Challenge NYNJTC Map 142)

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Everything about this hike is lovely: gentle gradient, a couple of lakes, historic ruins, beaver dams, and intense foliage. Right past the trailhead you see the old stone vestiges of the Coykendall Lodge which was built in 1899, and torn down by the state due to disrepair. It sits on the shore of the beautiful Alder Lake. 


While I was walking I was thinking about how ever since that book The Secret came out, people are obsessed with this idea that we can manifest the lives we want in precise detail. However, I don’t know if that should really be the goal.

I’ve always planned and worked my ass off to make outcomes happen, only for them to end up going in a direction I never could’ve anticipated. I always joke that not even my sexuality was something I could predict. It’s as though life was teaching me that I’m not in control as much as I think I am, and that if I stop fighting the outcomes, that maybe things will end up better than I could’ve imagined. 


Now, instead of planning my future in precise detail, I just leave it open and see what comes my way. This week, thanks to my ski sister, Nichelle, I had an opportunity arise. Some of you know that for the past 2 years I’ve been trying to find a way to bring winter sports into my students’ lives in a way that is more meaningful than a day trip to a resort. Nichelle put me in touch with @winter4kids_  and now my school is going to have a ski and snowboard club!

This organization is located in NJ and for 3 weeks in January, I’ll spend one day of each week teaching my students how to ski for a full day on the mountain. This is exactly what I’ve wanted, and I didn’t have to leave the DOE, my pay, or my tenure to do this. 

I think there’s a higher intelligence at work, and I’d much rather it manifest my future than my ego with its limited knowledge.

Todays IPAs we’re Kaaterskill Krush by @rvwbc and Hazy Little Thing by @sierranevada Both are amazing IPAs: 8/10 respectively.



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