At the conclusion of the two hours at the castle the weather was looking grim. There was a chance for showers today, and it had rained hard last night. The thing was- I had something in mind that I had not done yet here since coming here to England. Three miles to the northwest of Helmsley is the ruined Cistercian Abby of Rievaulx (Reevo). One of the ways to get there is an old medieval pilgrimage route that runs three miles over the hills and through the wilderness. You know I just had to do it! I was talking with one of the caretakers at Helmsley Castle, and I told him I was planning to go on the pilgrimage route. He advised against it because the road is just a dirt path that turns into a mudbog when it rains, and we got doused pretty good last night. I told him I was going to do it anyway. He looked down at my shoes, and asked if I was planning to do it in those- I said, yep. He laughed and told me I should go pick up a map, so I don't get lost in the woods. I was like- No way, dude- today was beautiful and nothing was going to get in my way. I will rough it like the pilgrims of old.
The path takes you up through some farm fields where horses are grazing, and from the start I knew this was going to be trouble. The path was slippery and a muddy mess. A couple were also on the path, and they had hiking boots, backpacks, and everything a 'hiker' could need including the walking-staff. I was roughing it though. I was loving every minute of it! After the fields, the path climbs up into a hilly forest. I was using the trees to swing my momentum forward and over huge mud puddles. This was truly a grand adventure. When the mud would get real deep, the couple would pass me, but when I was able to glide on the mud by sliding along, I passed them by. Finally, after climbing up through the fields and forest, you get to the top of this rise, and the countryside on both sides of you opens up. It was awesome! Here I am in the middle of England, on some unknown hill, in the middle of nowhere, and I couldn't have been in a better place. I nearly took the wrong path a number of times because the thing branches off here and there, but I stayed near the couple, who were going to the same place. The path then goes down into another forest, and then you turn around this bend where fields open up, and right in the middle of this little valley are these enormous ruins of Rievaulx Abby- UNBELIEVABLE! There is nothing else around this thing but a few houses, but the Abby dominates the entire countryside. It was stunning. So I pass the couple for the final time, and I march all the way to the Abby. I walk into the front office, and I am panting pretty hard. The guy there asks- 'Rough journey?' I told him about the muddy pilgrimage route, and he looks down at my feet. My shoes were covered with mud, the mud had even got into my socks. My feet were soaked, and mud was all over my pants from the knee down- and there I am smiling and laughing. I buy my ticket, and I go and explore the ruins. This place was just incredible! I cannot even explain it. I was just stunned that a bunch of ruined stone could move me so much. This Abby was the largest Cistercian Abby of the North, and at one time over 500 brothers and 150 servants lived there. It is absolutely amazing! This is in the middle of freaken nowhere! That is what just amazed me the most.
So I spent a couple hours at the Abby. I bought lunch, and I sat and ate it. The weather was getting darker and more and more gloomy. The sky looked like it was about to open up. The weather was cool. I still had a three mile walk back- mostly uphill- through a real mudbog of a trail. I take off, and I start on my way. I cannot tell you how I felt at this point. It was just awesome. There was magic in the air here today. I felt like the day was made just for me, and all the birds were singing just to greet me and help me on my way. I just felt this sense of completeness, and I was just totally content. It was so awesome. So I start my trip back, and I think I was smiling from ear to ear. I slip and slide my way back up the hill, using the trees to pull myself up the hard parts, and my spirit is soaring high. Then at some point I realize- I am completely freaken LOST!
I didn't have a map, and I was pretty freaken sure I didn't come this way. What did I do- I laughed, and I kept going straight ahead. The sky darkened and the thick forest closed in around me- I couldn't see more than ten feet to either side the woods were so thick. But I just smiled and kept going. I didn't turn around, I didn't hesitate, I just kept going. I had the most awesome feeling inside- I just knew everything would be ok. So I slipped in the mud, using the trees to swing and leap over puddles, and I continued down this trail in the middle of the Moors in Yorkshire on the other side of the world, far from anyone I know. Finally, I hit this gate, and I walk beyond the gate. Suddenly, the forest breaks open, and far down in the valley below is the HUGE manor house of some Lord. This place was awesome!
I thought to myself- what if I walked down there and knocked on the door? 'Hello, I am an American, and I seem to have made a wrong turn.' Maybe some elegant Princess would be there that just happens to want a crazy American that likes to get lost in woods and laughs his way like a mad man through them. We would live happily ever after in these woods, woods that I got lost in. But alas- it wasn't to be. So I look behind me, and I realized- I could go back and backtrack the way I came. BUT then there was this OTHER path. I smiled, and I took off down the path I hadn't been down before. Wouldn't you know it, about twenty minutes later, this one intercepted with the pilgrimage path. I was soon back on my way down to Helmsley. As I was walking through the forest, I came across this old Englishman out hiking. This guy had to be in his seventies, and he had all his hiking equipment on. I asked him about the Manor that I came across and it turns out it is called Duncombe Manor, and it is owned by the Lord and Lady Feversham. I told him how I came across it, how I got lost, and he seemed to think that was quite a hoot. I then went on to tell him how I thought of going down and knocking on their door, and he laughed. He said they probably would have helped me out and had me driven to Helmsley- he said the Lord and Lady are good people. So after a small talk the old man and I parted ways, and I continued on ahead. I found myself in Helmsley soon enough, and I got the bus back home.
As I walked the pilgrimage route today, I thought of you. I thought of you, and I wondered what it would have been like had you been there with me. You would have laughed at me, mud all over my pants, in my socks, and caked to my shoes. But I would have laughed too. Then when I got lost, you would have told me- Simon, I think we are lost. I would have looked at you and smiled. Then when the forest closed in around us and the sky turned dark and gray, you might have said we should turn back. But I would have laughed, and we would have continued. Then the forest would break open before us, and a beautiful manor would stare back at us. We would wonder at it together. Then you'd say- We should go back the way we came and catch the right path. I would smile, and we would go the other path we hadn't been down before. We would slide in the mud, and I would laugh as I jumped from stone to stone, leaping over mud puddles and sliding through the slime. Then we would find our way back to Helmsley, and you might say to me- You got us lost today! I would reply- Today couldn't have been more perfect!