It is a goal of mine to hike the entire section of the Appalachian Trail that passes through Virginia, the state that contains more miles of the trail than any other state. I recently invited a couple of priests and seminarians to accompany me toward fulfilling this goal by backpacking for three days and knocking out another 40 miles. On our last night, after a long and hard day of walking, we stopped to set up camp. With our heavy packs off, we went to watch the sunset from a nearby overlook. From this vantage, we could look back on all the miles we had trekked — each summit and valley, each mile of hard work. The laborious steps stretched behind us, wrapped in a new mantle of beauty as the sun set, shedding new light on our journey.