Looking through my hiking journal recently my face began to hurt with smiles at all of the crazily fun adventures I have had this year already. The winter was a blur of desert hikes, time in SPACE, prehistoric artwork, fossilized treasures, and achingly heart-felt friendship. I think it totals well over 300 miles of absolutely breathless beauty- peregrine falcons, cliff faces, narrow canyons, Great Horned Owls and love. I certainly lost myself to Big Bend but what a fantastic place to find yourself again.
Leaving brought a soul-restoring roadtrip through the Gila and the Santa Fe. Even a few coffee shop connections have been life-altering. I may have left a bit of my heart in Silver City and that is ok. I was nervous about striking out alone but it was empowering.
Yellowstone brought more, more, more...endless adventure, new and old friendships making life worth living, the job, the hikes, the wildlife, and everyday something new. It's not easy to explain the feeling of watching wild elk give birth, getting your bear spray out because your gut tells you to, listening to wolves howl while feasting on a carcass, seeing a geyser erupt that hasn't been active in years, and becoming deeply involved with a place that is quite unknowable. It is such an immense honor to be asked to take care of these places, to know them as much as possible, to record your observations. We rangers get to be part of these places for people- we hold space for the people's experiences and we listen and we acknowledge and appreciate them and in turn, we communicate and inspire them to hold space for the park with their taxes, and voting, and advocacy. It's an interesting exchange.
Hiking this summer was the only thing. I didn't fish, I read very few books, I had limited internet and of course, no TV. I hiked. I played kickball. I ran and ran and ran. I sat at campfires. I played lawn games. I polar plunged in the lake. I was the big sister, the grandma, the recipient and teller of great stories. I had hours of phone convos with one of my soul sisters. I made family dinners. I studied field guides. I went to the geyser basin at night. And we hiked. Waterfalls, ink pots, pregnant pronghorn, thimble berries, canyons, moose, windswept beaches, back-country lakes, and lots of neat animal scat were feasted upon by our senses. We sweated, we blistered, we laughed and it was a hell of a good time. That was my entire summer.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
