An old fart meets and old fart on the trail

Part way into a couple of recent hikes, where the footing got dicey or the grade got steep, or both, I started wondering if I’d committed to more than I could handle. Should I keep going or turn around here? Is this trail only for those younger people I see scampering up sand hills and hopping rock to rock? Are the people who rated these trails barely old enough to drink?

But then I’ll see fellow old farts coming the other way. I don’t know how far they went, but it’s farther than where I am at the moment. And I see people who look like the farthest they’d ever walked before was from the sofa to the fridge and back. If they can do it, so can I. So I press on. And feel better about myself because I did.

So many ways for us old folks to misstep