Recently, I lost someone close to me to suicide.  This person was brilliant but dealing with some traumatic events.  I choose to remember the good times we had.  One of them was hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Since my first trek along its peaks and valleys, I had the ambition to do the whole thing, all 2,190 plus miles of it.  Because I have neither the time or financial resources, this was destined to be done in sections.  I would love to do what is called a “through hike,” which is walking in the entire length in one go.  While I think I can accomplish it, see the sentence before last.  For all of the Georgia section, my partner was my late loved one.  Since I am done with the Bond franchise, and with this person’s passing, I decided to revisit a film I had seen once in the theater before I started The Legionnaire.  Thus, with a heavy and nostalgic heart, I give you A Walk in the Woods (2015).

Before he has A Walk in the Woods, renowned travel writer Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) is feeling disenchanted with the current tenor of his life.  He has authored many books on travel, and he goes on talk shows attempting to answer questions from drive-by media personalities who have studied his work just enough to make them annoying.  Further, he is getting to that point in his life when you start losing more friends than you gain.  Thus, after returning from yet another exhausting interview, his wife Catherine Bryson (Emma Thompson), reminds him they have a funeral to attend.  He is not looking forward to this event, and asks if they can leave almost as soon as they arrive.  Upon getting back to their New Hampshire home, Bill decides he is going to take a walk.  His steps take him to a small part of the Appalachian Trail.  Something about seeing the sign listing the mileage from Georgia to Maine excites his imagination.  When he next sees Catherine, he tells his spouse that he is going to do the entire trail in one attempt.  She immediately accuses him of being mad, but he remains steadfast.  She then switches to printing articles of all the dangers of the famous mountain path.  As he goes through them, he finds a note from her saying that the only way she will be okay with this trip is if he finds a hiking buddy.  One-by-one, the people Bill calls to ask if they are willing to undertake a really long expedition on foot with him are met with incredulity, in its kindest form, or flat denials.  When it seems like his prospects are dead, he gets a call from a friend with whom he has not spoken in decades, and did not part amicably from: Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte).  There is the cursory amount of catching up, along with Stephen’s assurances that he is fit enough for the trek, before Bill agrees to the joint venture.  When Stephen lands at the airport, however, he cuts an overweight figure with a number of issues besides.  Stephen waves off Bill’s concerns.  After a night of viewing Bill’s accomplishments compared to Stephen’s struggles, they are off to Georgia to begin the hike.  Okay, so just in case it is not obvious, I will remind you here that this is a movie about two older gentlemen walking in a relatively straight line for many miles.  Thus, the film deals with their adventures episodically as they make their way north.  I will not go into all of them, but will try to convey the important moments and themes.  The first thing they encounter is the sometimes grueling nature of the path.  Speaking from personal experience, the approach path before you get to the official Appalachian Trail is among the hardest along its entire length.  On top of their advanced age (and I am not sure why they elected to not have hiking poles), they also look on as much younger hikers breeze by them.  This brings us to Mary Ellen (Kristy Schaal), a motor mouth that walks with them for a few days, and criticizes many of their actions and gear.  So desperate are they to be shot of her that they decide to get an early start one day, and hide behind some rocks until she passes.  Given these difficulties, some of which they knew before they came (but with new ones added), they begin to ask themselves why they are doing this seemingly insane trek.  Bill consistently claims that he does not know why he is there, though it is apparent that he is trying to recapture something he lost.  For Stephen, it is about escape, mostly from the problems that have plagued him in Iowa, including a drinking addiction.  There is also some friction between the two, owing to the differences in their life experiences.  For example, Bill finds a whiskey bottle in Stephen’s pack, although he claims to have quit alcohol.  Later, Stephen explains that he keeps the liquor on hand to remind him of what he is capable of before pouring out its contents.  This helps smooth things over, as does the steady dose of spectacular vistas.  Their friendship is solidified when, while navigating a particularly treacherous cliff face, Bill slips and takes Stephen with him over the edge.  Luckily, they do not have far to fall, ending up on a ledge just below the trail.  Still, they are unable to get back up and have to spend the night on the precarious perch.  The next morning, they are rescued by a pair of younger hikers they had earlier met, and despised.  Not long after resuming their hike, Bill asks Stephen if he has had enough walking.  Stephen says yes, and they go their separate ways.  Bill returns to find a jubilant Catherine.  He is also greeted by a number of postcards Stephen had sent Bill along the way with sweet reminders of their adventures.  With this, Bill sits down to write the eponymous book.

A Walk in the Woods is based on a book of the same name by the writer portrayed by Robert Redford.  I have never read it, but the film seems to be a loose interpretation of the source material.  There are some that will rage against such liberties.  Lord knows I have in some instances.  Yet, the lesson in it is a good one, particularly for the practicing Catholic.  During this viewing, I took a copious amount of notes, but they all seem to center on the idea that we know little about what is ahead of us, even planning for a hike on the Appalachian Trail.  All we can do is our best.  There is a lot to unpack here, which is also a great metaphor for being on the trail.  So many struggle in life because they want to know what is around every bend in the road, which is impossible, but still they strive.  It is exhausting and frustrating.  Being a true, practicing Catholic is about letting go of that desire to know, with the concurrent knowledge that so much of it is beyond us.  This is put a different way in the movie, but it means the same thing, when Bill and Stephen are trapped on the ledge.  At night, they are looking up at the stars and Stephen is marveling at their multitude.  Being the educated guy that he is, Bill interjects some facts into the moment, quoting the number of celestial bodies we can see with the naked eye and how close is the nearest solar system to our own.  Stephen maintains his awe by reminding his friend of how big it all is.  Bill assents by adding that we are small.  This is the kind of acceptance we need in approaching God.  Only He can know, truly, why we walk the paths we do, why we die, or why we can see the number of stars that we do.  There is a plan in all of it to His greater glory, even if it does not seem that way.  Understanding life in this manner, and the vast army of Catholic saints attest to this, is the key to happiness.  This is where the film lands in a non-religious manner.

For that loved one of mine who passed away so tragically, I recommend A Walk in the Woods.  For that same person, I need to get back out on the trail, and continue to give it my best in all areas of my life.  By doing so, I hope to ultimately glorify God.