Welcome to The Distant Horizon!
My name is Isaac, but on the trail I go by Central Time.
If someone asks me what I do, I’m a mechanical engineer. That answer, however, isn’t nearly complete. I’m a former long-distance swimmer, unpracticed mountain biker, occasional ultra-runner, and fair weather runner of more reasonable distances. I’m an avid hiker, amateur photographer, eager road-tripper, and ardent backpacker.
I love the wilderness, plain and simple, and will travel great lengths and endure great discomfort to hear the deafening silence of a truly wild and peaceful valley or to witness the awesome power of nature atop a high mountain peak. Peace. Solitude. Balance. People are drawn to the wilderness for many different reasons, but for me, it is an incredibly spiritual experience. The nature of the Creator is revealed in His creation, and I believe that the natural world around us was created to bring us closer to Him. The sublime beauty of the unspoiled, natural world never ceases to lead me down scarcely travelled paths, towards towering peaks, and into distant valleys and canyons, and along rivers, rarely visited by human-kind.
I also love to push myself, seeking the extent of my mental and physical endurance through races and journeys of inexplicably long distances. I find joy not only in the simple successful completion of such objectives, but find that I am most satisfied with the joy that comes along the journey of chasing these physical, tangible, difficult goals. I find satisfaction in that raw, pure joy that can only be felt when your body and mind have been pushed to the limit of what you though was possible and, to your surprise, you still have more to give.
In the pursuit of these things, I typically find myself traveling long distances, often by foot, and sometimes living out of a backpack in the wilderness along the way. I embark on these journeys, uncomfortable and difficult as they may be, not only for the satisfaction and privilege to look back and say “I did that,” but mostly in an attempt to recognize and experience and appreciate every beautiful and painful mile along the way. I place more emphasis on what I have the privilege to experience along the way – all while chasing after that distant horizon.
Long-winded and convoluted as I may make it seem, the hopeful purpose of this space, The Distant Horizon, ultimately boils down to the following:
I enjoy pushing myself and testing the limits of this human body that I’ve been given. I enjoy living in the moment and soaking up the experience of living in the wilderness, as a part of the wilderness. I enjoy the like-minded community and human camaraderie, stripped of societal commotion and distraction, that forms among the people that I meet along the way. I enjoy photographing both the mundane and the magnificent throughout the journey. I enjoy writing about these experiences, mostly for myself, to look fondly back on some day when I find myself inevitably stuck in a grey cubicle for 60 hours a week.
I also, however, enjoy writing about these experiences for y’all – sharing pictures, stories, anecdotes and random ramblings. I enjoy this because that was and is how I am inspired to chase after such things. By contributing my experiences to the infinite black hole of information that has infiltrated every sacred corner of our lives.
I can only hope that what little I contribute might one day help inspire someone else to look outside their small and tiny window in the confining societal walls called “normal life” and dare to find a way out. Dare to do what is hard without expecting it to be easy. Dare to learn what society has deemed irrelevant and possibly find it the most applicable. Dare to embrace the journey, the pain, the joy, and the unquenchable striving towards that goal that makes eyebrows raise and awkward questions surface. They may call you crazy, but don’t be deterred. Dare to reject passivity and chase after your Distant Horizon.
I’ll see y’all out there!!!
