After the possibilities I discovered yesterday in my new trails paradise I was a bit more eager to get in the truck and get back up there today. I didn’t realize how hiking the same exact trail every day for eight years had become complete drudgery. I never even liked that part of the trail, the scrub oak growing everywhere is just plain ugly, especially in the winter when it is just a maze of sticks to ruin every picture that I take there.
The new trails are beautiful, they remind me of pictures I’ve seen of the rain forests of the Northwest. Beautiful pine trees standing over rocks and a beautiful forest floor of pine needles and naturally growing junipers. The steep trails on the south face of the Ute Pass Valley are heavily shaded and filled with the pungent smell of pine.
Today we climbed higher than yesterday… There are quite a few forest trails and deer trails going everywhere up there and I need to make sure I get used to them from both directions before going too far at one time. Not that it is really possible to get really lost there, but a wrong turn on the way down could cost a long hike through town back to the trailhead, something I’m sure neither me nor the doggies would appreciate. So today we actually made it to the end of the deer trail and onto some sort of main trail that looks like it could go for miles… I am eager to discover where it leads.
Near the top of our ascent today there was a clearing and a magnificent view of the morning sun cascading onto 14,115 foot Pikes Peak. As we stopped to take in the view from up there I was actually happy for a bit that my nemesis that has been harassing me on the old trail forced me to expand my horizons. As I mentioned earlier, I was sick of the old ugly trail to nowhere and the new one is a hikers paradise.
Which also brought to mind a story that I heard a long time ago… The story is about eagles, how when they are flying low they are often harassed by the small birds, blackbirds and crows and such. But the eagles with their great power and majesty do not bother with the lesser birds, they just soar ever higher until they arise to heights their pesky adversaries cannot attain. So it is in life, as I stood there high above the town and my nemesis looking at the lofty peak across the valley I realized that I had taken the right approach… stop bothering with my pesky adversaries and soar higher, so high that they cannot even find me, much less hang around and bother me.
Steve Krull is a prolific sports and nature photographer selling prints and stock images online as S.W. Krull Imaging at various sites and agencies. Click this link to view all the products and services offered by Steve Krull and S. W. Krull Imaging. Additional services include, wedding photography, portraiture and model portfolios, and event photography. Additional products include fine art stock imagery, prints and gift items
