Arches

March 27, 2014 4 Comments

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Arches National Park, Utah

We woke to a sea of green and purple flowers, river flowing by, hugged by canyon walls, sun slowly burning through an overcast sky. By the time we reached Arches National Park the sky had softened to a cornflower blue.

Then we ran, up and down trails away from the tourists through the rocks, feeling free. It had been so long since I’d run the trails and it brought such light-hearted joy. I’m no mountain goat, I’ll be honest there were decent walk breaks involved, but happily (for me) Dylan was still sore from his race so we could run together, sometimes one falling behind, but always pulled back together by invisible strings.

The wind picked up and the tourists retreated, we took the primitive trails alone except for some specks of people on the horizon. Deep into the canyon, then we we took different paths, hearts beating hard until we finally converged again, we were not lost. Deep orange rocks, bright blue green soil and white crumbly sand. It was an alien world, but achingly beautiful, refreshing to be wild.

Is this how nature makes you feel?

Travel

Mountains to desert

March 26, 2014 No Comments

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Utah

Travelling days are always overwhelming, the landscape changes so fast and it takes a second to re-orientate and catch your breath. At the end of the day you have a strange feeling of having done nothing and way too much all at once.

Salida slid away from our present and soon we were leaving the mountains: to my excitement and Dylan’s sorrow. Wehad to stop for a second to get photos of Dylan in front of Dillon pinnacles, then away from frozen lakes, snow drifts and hopefully below freezing cold.

Colour began returning to the landscape, my heart skipped at the sight of a scraggly patch of oh so green grass. an out of control bonfire raged filling the sky with Turneresque smoke. Trees began to bud and leaf as we rolled by and then an aching desolate flatness before the canyons began in all their glorious sunset colours. We drove down a smaller road, beside a river, ranches in a canyon what a life! Then a campground with a carpet of purple flowers, spring I could taste it, but it was still oh so cold.

What’s your favourite season?

Travel

Through the mountains to Leadville

March 22, 2014 4 Comments

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Leadville, Colorado

Light faded, we were in the snow with 14teener mountains all around. In the lowlit mountains I felt like I was in a snow globe, nothing beyond the mountains that went on forever into eternity. Dreams of camping were laughable, finally we began to descend, but still at 10,000 feet we didn’t want to risk it, we stopped at a hostel in Leadville just as night closed like a fist around us. Cars we passed were buried to their windscreens in snow. The hostel was a funny old place, eccentric and warm. The bedrooms underground and windowless, toilets closed off with pink ruffled curtains and everywhere decorated with shamrocks for St Patrick’s Day. There was a large group of retirees preparing for a hike with wine and beer, they were kind too, chatting while we cooked and donating hommous and corn chips, the very luxuries we had gone without at our last grocery shop. Warm and safe we slept like rocks.

Travel

Boulder

March 21, 2014 2 Comments

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Boulder, Colorado

Way up on the mountain it was time for me to confront the bubbles of homesickness that had been activated by leaving the earthship crew. The loss of constant companionship and camaraderie had left a whole that was being filled with thoughts of friends and family back home. Boulder was nice, Dylan loved it, but for some reason the juxtaposition of wilderness and utter surburbanality jarred with me, perhaps because Dylan felt so at home there and I did not.

After a trip into the town, so different in the sun, we hiked into the mountains, took a wrong turn, and then trekked 25km back home. It was tiring, but therapeutic, we talked things out and made some decisions. Tomorrow a new day, I felt bad that I hadn’t looked at Boulder with softer eyes, people had been lovely to me, especially the wait staff at the brewery, but sometimes you just get in a funk right? But now I feel refreshed and conscious of how lucky I am to be experiencing these amazing places and much more aware of how I need people. There goes my lone wolf romanticisms. Perhaps I’ve spent too much time at altitude and I’m just feeling exhausted.

While I’m in a social mood, I’ll throw a question out to the web, I feel like making connections, if you haven’t commented before why not say hi? Have you found that special place you belong or are you still searching? Is it the people or the space that make it home?