Dear Mr. Vogel,
Over the past several years as I developed from a casual hiker into an avid adventurer who considered a vacation day sans a hike a wasted one, I became enamored with our country’s incredible national parks. I grew up hiking every summer with my family in New Hampshire’s bucolic, awe-inspiring White Mountains, but soon I began to realize — or at least get a sense of — just how many outdoor treasures every little nook of this great nation has to offer.
My everyday life in Michigan, then North Carolina and finally Washington, DC, was bland, but I traveled as often as I could to places such as: Yosemite during the summer of 2011, Rocky Mountain NP in 2012, the Grand Canyon in 2012, ’14 and ’15, the Olympics, Rainier, Canyonlands, Arches and the Smokeys in 2013 (not a bad year!), Denali in 2015, and Death Valley and Joshua Tree just a couple months ago. I’m sure I’m missing some.
These hiking trips — many alone, some as bonding experiences with my dad — were not only spectacular, but what I called each time an “escape from reality.” From dirty city life. From my boring day to day. This life routine of extremes continued until a cold Wednesday in January of 2015.
That’s when I discovered the impeccable combination of a group of caring, motivated, no-excuses, kind-of crazy outdoors people and a national monument in my city — just 4 miles from home — that would change my everyday life.
November Project DC and the Lincoln Memorial.
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I’m proud to say to this day, almost 18 months later, that I’ve missed two out of 200-plus “NP” workouts when I’ve been in DC (and not hiking other national parks).
For five and a half years, I struggled to discover people in the District who were as nutty as me — who would go on runs, bike rides and hikes on a whim; who never let the cold air or what was falling from the sky dictate what they’d do; who would walk 62.1 miles, or hike 35, in a day. I went on a few hiking trips with Meetup groups and yeah, they were all right, but I never met anyone whom I just meshed with, who wouldn’t hesitate in saying “hell yeah!” to a winter hike or a 9am soccer game on a rainy Saturday.
November Project filled that void and more, and I loved every Monday running hills at Meridian Park and every Friday that opened my eyes — and hundreds of others — to neighborhoods and dozens of parks (DC has so much green space!) all throughout this great city’s eight wards.
But November Project Wednesdays on the Lincoln Memorial steps have been a different kind of special for me. There is nothing in this nation’s capital comparable to running up and down those stairs while watching the sun rise behind the Washington Monument (a picture I try to paint with words for anyone who will listen). Week after week, I have basked in the glow of those sunrises, and whatever followed on those hump days could never spoil how they had begun.
Go back 18 months, and the only time I would ever wake before 5am was for a hike in NH’s Whites or to see the sun rise in a place like Yosemite or Canyonlands or Olympic. Now, I get up every single Wednesday at 4:43am — sleep be damned — and start my Wednesday in spectacular fashion (even when it’s cloudy or raining or snowing), exercising in unison with my closest friends in the absolute coolest place this city chock full of cool places has to offer.
My coworkers and everyone I come in contact with has learned that there’s a reason I’m happiest on Wednesdays with no exceptions. I’m sure I’m not the only member of November Project who walks around each hump day wearing an implacable grin as wide as the Grand Canyon.
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I haven’t really thought about it until recently — until I learned that the thing I treasure most about my weekly routine in DC could be jeopardized — but November Project has done even more for me than I thought when I wrote a 1,500-word blog about its impact on my life. Not only have I made hundreds of friends, reached a level of fitness I never even knew I could achieve, and become a happier person, but I have discovered that I don’t need to leave the city I live in to experience everything I’ve come to love about our country’s national parks.
The accessibility for everyone. The low (or no) costs. The surrounding beauty. The care with which they’re taken care of by you and your passionate team at the National Park Service.
They’re not mountains or canyons, but DC’s nationals parks and monuments are appealing and inspiring in their own ways — the Lincoln Memorial, in particular. To wrap this up, Mr. Vogel, I sincerely hope you’ll allow this innocuous, community-building, life-changing activity, November Project, to continue every Wednesday at the Lincoln Memorial (and Mondays and Fridays, too) by issuing our passionate, earth-caring and growing group a permit. And I hope you’ll join us on the steps in the near future to experience this confluence of beautiful people and places for yourself.
Thank you for reading and taking care of our country’s most valuable resources — our parks.
Jake Lloyd
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