Recharged

It’s 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, and I’m resting inside Honcho—my van—at the Taos Ski Valley Resort after successfully hiking Wheeler Peak, New Mexico’s highest point. I made the long drive west for a much-needed mental health getaway in nature. That, and it was a good excuse for me to test a new house battery I had installed the week before. Needless to say, my lungs and legs are physically exhausted after my 13,000-foot climb this morning, but the satisfaction that comes from summiting another mountain is just the feeling I was looking for.

I’ve had limited hiking trips this year after spraining my ankle in March and then battling Covid in July. I started easing my way back into jogging last month, but my aching joints and noticeable shortness of breath have made getting back into shape a slow-going process.

Over Labor Day holiday, my brother and I flew out to Colorado to watch the college football season opener between his TCU Horned Frogs and my CU Buffs. Unfortunately, the Buffs put up a dismal performance that resulted in a 38-13 defeat at home and, more importantly, the loss of family bragging rights.

The weekend wasn’t a total loss, however, because we did a lot of walking during those two days—just shy of 30 miles—which also included a 10-mile hike up and around Flagstaff Mountain. Both my ankles were fat and swollen from the effort, but it felt good to log some miles after spending so much time away from the trails.

The following week, I drove Honcho down to Austin for a makeover of sorts. A big frustration of mine these past three years of van ownership has been the electrical system. Plainly speaking, I was never happy with the old set up and had been looking forward to an upgrade ever since the original builder installed it back in 2019.

Selecting a compatible battery and controller that would work with my existing set up and also fit within the allotted space was only half the battle. Finding a company that I trusted to complete the installation was something else entirely. Van conversion specialists are a dime a dozen out west in places like Colorado and California, but not so much in Texas. My only hope was to find someone in the Austin area, where a few boutique-style companies have sprouted up over the past five years.

Thomas Doan with Heart of Texas Conversions was my guy. Thomas has more than a decade of experience designing and building vans, most of which was acquired with Sportsmobile, an OG van conversion company founded in 1961 out of El Paso, Texas. An interesting side note: my idea to travel the country was inspired by some online photos of a Sportsmobile van I saw years ago.

After Thomas completed the new installation, all that was left for me to do was head to New Mexico and test out the new system. So far, after two days on the road, everything seems to be working as planned. I have far more power than I need, and not having to worry about charging my batteries every day is a luxury that I can’t even begin to describe.

Honcho is officially recharged, and this morning’s hike seems to have done the same for me. It was good to be outside in the forest and the mountains again. The hike was anything but easy. I would have likely rolled both of my ankles if not for a pair of sturdy braces and reliable trekking poles. I even took a small can of compressed oxygen with me in case my post-Covid lungs had trouble breathing at higher elevations.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to use it, but that’s not to say I wasn’t hunched over my poles at times, breathing heavy and questioning my life choices. It’s the exact feeling that led me to drive to New Mexico in the first place. I’m currently overseeing several projects back at home that have taken their toll on me mentally, physically and emotionally. Add a personal, heartbreaking loss to the mix, and I was tempted to throw my hands into the air on more than one occasion.

I recently finished a new chapter in my book titled, “Voice of Truth.” In it, one of the villains of the story, a turkey-vulture named Smear, is trying to convince his captive, a peregrine falcon named Tallie, that she is something she is not. Smear’s deceit ultimately causes Tallie to question the new identity given to her by her adopted mother, Grace, that is, until a childhood memory helps Tallie find the inner strength she needs to overcome Smear’s lies.

As I write this blog, I find myself in a similar place as Tallie. All I can do now is seek out my own voice of truth. Hopefully, the grace I find will provide me with the strength I need to overcome the battles I’ve been fighting this year. And if that’s not enough, then I’ll continue listening to some more motivational videos from ultra-endurance athlete and former Navy SEAL, David Goggins. The dude is wild.

In a video clip I saw on Goggins' Instagram page, a woman asks him, “[…] When you’re in that moment, failing, and you have to keep going, what do you say to yourself?” Goggins responds, “What if? […] What if I can pull this off? […] What if I can become someone that no one thinks I can be? […]”

You might recall that I was previously training for a half marathon before I sprained my ankle back in March. My goal was to use the race in preparation to hike the high points of New Mexico and Arizona. I knocked out New Mexico this morning, but Arizona will have to wait until next year. Instead, my wife and I will fly to Hawaii in December for our delayed honeymoon. Naturally, I will attempt to hike Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii’s highest peak at an elevation of 13,803 feet, while I’m there.

I received an email this week reminding me that the Dallas Half Marathon is scheduled three months away on Sunday, Dec. 11. I’m not committing to running it just yet, but I do have an active 11-year consecutive streak of completing a half marathon that I’m not quite ready to see end. If I do decide to run, that gives me three months to improve my endurance to hike Mauna Kea. Three months to finish my projects. Three months to continue to write. Three months to dig deep and finish the year out strong. Do I have it in me? I guess we’ll see. To quote Goggins’ catchphrase, “Stay hard.”

Follow me on Instagram at @Joshua_Maven or @HonchotheVan, on Twitter @MaventheRaven or Facebook at Facebook/TheLastImperial.