Ladies Day Out

I am sitting on my deck right now with a well-deserved beer after today's excursion, watching our favorite three bucks (Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail) eat their evening meal. This morning as I was getting ready, they also graced me with their presence out back letting me watch them eat as I made lunch for this afternoon and filled my camelback. Three deer just wandered up from the side yard to munch on an aspen as well and one wagged her tail when I said hi. I wonder if they understand more than we think they do...you know, the childish ideas that animals can talk too even though they might not actually do it? Lydia (the bird who sits on our windowsill and pecks at our window every morning) also showed up to wish me luck on what I thought was going to be a ten-mile hike.

I showed up at the office a little before 8:00am so Aubrey and I could get the radios and first aid kit to add to our packs. We drove out and dropped off her car at one end and sat in mine to get to the other trailhead at Cow Creek. As we started hiking, it was about 8:30am and a light breeze filled the air as we radioed Dispatch and began our journey through the mountains. About a mile in, we came to a junction to either continue the way we had informed Dispatch we were going or take a 6mile detour to Gem Lake. We had heard really good things about the lake and decided to check it out. After a grueling 3miles completely uphill, we made it to the water tucked back in the middle of nowhere with a rock wall as the backdrop. The lake was completely gorgeous and we were so glad we had gone that way, despite our already sore legs. After a half-hour break and a talk with a lady from Egypt whom I had written a backcountry permit for five days earlier, we turned back and went the three miles downhill back to the first junction.

At this point, we had traveled 7miles with a half-hour break, and it was only 11:30am. We turned to head back on our original route towards Bridal Veil Falls, with a short detour at two of our backcountry campsites. The last mile towards the fall was another complete uphill climb, with steps carved into the rocks that ran along the river. By the time we got up to our destination, we were beat and sat down for a half-hour lunch. We took out our map and evaluated our route and decided to continue the way we had set out, but to skip a 1mile detour since we had replaced it with Gem Lake. After the mile back down from the waterfall, we took another turn at a junction and realized we had already traveled 10miles (which was our original plan) and still had 6 more to go!

The next two miles were the worst of the trip. The trail went completely up with only switchbacks. The discouraging part about switchbacks is if you look straight down, you can see the exact spot where you were five minutes ago and you are still gasping for air because of the steep slopes. We were already exhausted because this was mile 11 and 12, but we slowly made it to a point where we got to the top of the trees and could only see the horizon in the distance rather than more of the same mountain. A sign ahead said 4miles left, and we began the long downhill journey to Lumpy Ridge Trailhead.

Altogether today, we saw 82 people (I counted). Six were climbers, four were backpackers, and everyone was super friendly. Aubrey and I were joking around that Disneyland's slogan is wrong "The Happiest Place on Earth." There's more magic and happiness here because it's real and it's not bought or covered with costumes. Maybe it was because we were in uniform, but we stopped to at least smile and say hi to every single person, and every single person either beat us or returned the salutation. There's something about that special connection even if it's for a few minutes to learn a lady came from San Antonio and is hiking with her dad but it's not a vacation--her mom is sick but they are at least able to get out so they aren't stuck home thinking about it all day, or about the older man who lives in Boulder and the older woman who lives in Fort Collins but they get together every other week or so to hike in the park and have been doing so since they met a few years ago snowshoeing in a different area of the park. They way people can start talking without holding back is just so friendly and eye-opening.

The nature and wildlife completely blew my mind today too. Aubrey and I talked a lot and got to know each other a lot better, but sometimes we would just be quiet and listen to nature as we hiked. There's so much that people miss when they are just listening to their ipods out here. The sounds of the wind through the trees and the differences between blowing through a pine or aspen. The sounds of the water cascading over the rocks or flowing gently through a smoother section. The insects who click, squeak, chirp, etc. and aren't even worried enough to stop when you pass by. It's Nature's Symphony.

A few different times on the trail (especially around the water), we would take a step and dozens of pale purple butterflies would swarm up from the ground. When their wings were closed, they were brown and blended in with the mud but if you walked by, they lit up the trail and fluttered around playing tag with one another. The idea that they showed up when you least expected them made me start thinking about butterflies in general. There are all sorts of mythological or biblical significances and roles that butterflies play, but they all have some sort of a magical quality in common.

Another major nature thing that stuck out in my mind today had to do with trees again. Looking at an aspen grove on the side of the last super steep section, I noticed that the trees were really, really tall and straight but the leaves only grew on the very top section. Looking through pictures of Gem Lake when I got home, I also noticed how all of the tree roots had been uncovered (possibly by the wind) so it looked like the trees were standing on their tiptoes. This made me start thinking about the phrase "growing up." I've never really understood the questions about what kids want to be when they grow up, because they are really growing older, not necessarily taller. In this case though, the trees were all growing up because they do get talled and begin reaching for the sky. Just something I'm thinking about...

Someone was talking to me yesterday about writing a book with these things at the end of the summer. It's funny because as I was walking to work earlier yesterday, I had been starting to think about the same thing. The more I think about it though, that's not what these are for. The entries range from descriptions of my day to a look inside my brain up here, but it's more of an open journal that others can read. I love reading the comments and am using this as a connection with the outside world (according to who's been reading it all the way to the UK somehow!) but I think that's about as far as it is going to go. I'm getting excited to have my sisters maybe visit for my birthday, and will extend to everyone the same offer I gave them...

If you can figure out how to get here, everything during your stay will be free.

I don't think that's a bad deal at all and I can even drive to Denver to pick you up from the airport if that's the way you want to go. It doesn't look like I will be getting to Flagstaff this summer, but I would love to have any connections with the outside world once and a while. Even a phone call is nice but remember the hour time difference. :)