my Favorite place on earth....

I could  wander through this place and over 

these mountains every day,

and never get tired of the grandness of it all.

It's incredibly humbling being surrounded~

by something that is so much greater 

than me.

One More Time~ Trail re-visited

Remember the couple I met in this post  ~~Just One More Time.... ?

Well I was lucky enough to make another trip to the mountains last weekend, and re-hike the trail where I had met them last Fall.
I wanted to see what they had seen over the years- the differences between the seasons.
And....in a sense....hike the trail in honor of the both of them,  who said they had hiked their last up to this amazing place.

(the bench where they sat and we visited last fall)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow had fallen during the night, and when I got to the trail head

I was thrilled to find no one yet had arrived...

{which meant I got to make the first tracks in the new snow.}

I felt like a kid. 

First one to make new tracks is something to smile over.

(for me at least:)

My favorite "difficult trail" was closed for the winter, so Easy it was.

But just as beautiful.

The view as I climbed were just as breathtaking as in the summer...maybe more so after a snowfall.

And then The Lakes came into view.

It was unearthly quiet and still.

And beautiful.

I truly felt as though I had stumbled into some sort of winter dream.

No wonder they loved this place in the winter.

I can't even describe it, nor can these pictures.

It seems as though the couple I met months ago had a secret in this winter trail~ 
and I'm incredibly thrilled they shared it with me.

Just one more time......

Two months ago I hiked up to a mountain lake. 

There are 2 paths you can take to get there....

The "Easy Trail" and The "Difficult".

I have always like the Difficult route.

It's full of narrow walkways, 

a wooden/rock stairway, trickling springs that flow over the trail in places....

it's definitely the more beautiful of the 2 paths.

The scenery as you climb is magnificent.

It takes your breath away, and not just because of the steep ascent.

On this particular hike, I was followed on the Difficult route

 ~(and sometimes passed)~ 

by 2 elderly people. 

One walked with  2 canes, the other with a considerable limp. 

I wanted to turn at times and offer my assistance across the streams of water and slippery rocks- 

but something stopped me.

I was truly amazed by this seemingly persistent couple.

When I finally arrived at this particular lake ~ I stopped beside it and took (of course),

countless picture from every angle I could of everything I could see.

I turned to find the same couple resting on a bench, just watching everything going on around them.

They seemed quiet yet happy, and I couldn't help but take a few steps towards them and make some remark of how beautiful it all was.

This began an incredible conversation. One I won't soon forget.

To sum up the heart of our chat,

they had been married for 50+ years and had hiked up to this lake every year they'd been together.

And they didn't just come in the fairer months of the summer.

Winter was just as beautiful they said.

And then the woman stated, 

"This will be our last climb here. 

We have gotten to the point where it's to difficult for us to make this journey like we have been. 

But we wanted to take it just one more time. 

Today."

I tried to hide the tears from my eyes.

Something hit me in that moment. 

My imagination created the past 50 years of this couple, 

coming together and walking this trail year after year.

Summer or winter- they came.

Year after year- through whatever the season, they hiked the trail to this spot.

And there I was, 

actually sharing their moment with them surrounded by incredible beauty they were seeing for the last time.

I felt humbled. And honored.

And wanted to let them be.

But they were ever so gracious and continued to chat, asking me questions and sharing information about this mountain and its trails.

I felt so blessed to be part of their moment.

~~~~~~~

I have hiked this trail several times over the years.

Never in the winter.

Although I now plan to during this one.

For some reason their story touched me in a way I can't explain.

Maybe it was their commitment to the trail and mountain.

~Their commitment to one another.~

Their persistence that I saw while they struggled up the trail.

Their love for a place I love.

I'm not sure just quite what it is.

I do know that I will never think of this trail in quite the same way.

Their life has somehow been etched into my heart through all the beauty which lies up there.

I just wish and hope, that the next time I go....maybe, 

they will have decided they were able to take that trail just one more time.

~~~~~

Landscape Drive-Bys

Not liking the "flying method" as means for transportation,

(or being able to afford it that often),

I spend hours of time driving to places I want to be during holidays.

As I scrolled through captures over this past year of places we went,

I was amazed at the scenes one can view from the seat of a 4 wheeled vehicle:)

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 I also realize that I'm drawn to places with mountains 

and wide open sky.

And I swear that every time I see some sort of hill or mountain....the words that slip out of my mouth are, 

"I would just love to run up that hill!"

I think I'm going to need some new Trail shoes.

~~~~~

(And you can look HERE to read about last week's running race.)

Reason to Climb

A few weeks ago I took a quick hike up into one of my favorite mountain spots.
When you reach the end of the hike, it opens up into a view of 2 beautiful lakes surrounded by walls of mountain rock....a favorite place for the avid mountain climber.
(The REAL mountain climbers.)

As I watched this guy make his way up the face of this particular side, it struck me as to how we all seem to be climbing.
Somewhere.
Climbing up, climbing over, climbing across, climbing in....but we all seem to be on an adventure of a climb.

I guess it doesn't matter where you climb- so long as when you get to the end of the climb, you can be proud of what you accomplished.
And even more importantly...proud of the way that you handled the climb to wherever it is you wanted to be...

I hope to look back and see that I climbed with grace.
At the moment grace is lacking.
Think I need to step back and reassess the climb I am on.

For if we don't climb with honor, sincerity, a purpose...what good is the climb?
 It is merely a climb..... to no where.

Happy Climbing

My 29km of Trail~

~on top of the world~

~~~~~~

The race began at 8:30am...which was actually a late start compared to what I'm used to.

(It was nice to sleep in a bit.)

Race briefing was short, to the point, and only one mention of bear sightings around a carcass that was near the top of the trail.

Nice.

(my fear of flying equals that of my fear of bears)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The trail started off gently rolling....across a Texas Gate or 2, 

through trees, and over bridges with babbling creeks.

I decided not to look at my watch and pace for as long as I could handle it.

I ran~ 3km,

 without so much as a glance down, 

enjoying the fact that I was surrounded by those mountains and pine air.

My breathing space.

When I DID look down and saw only the 3km on my watch- it hit me.

I had gone only 10% of the run.

I still had 90% to go.

Then a double hit...I had never run more than 21km in my entire life- 

let alone a mountain run for 29.

From there on it was a mind battle.

Not to mention the trail began to incline.

But with that incline came beauty....and it took away the thoughts of knees not wanting to lift.

By the 9km aid station....I was in good spirits and so happy to be a part of the race.

(And happy the aid station had water and oranges:)

The trail would plateau in places and open up in to views like this....

And this.....

But for some reason.,.at about 11-12km?

It rushed over  me- the magnitude of a mountain run.

(Maybe it was the thin air...)

The trail turned form rocks and roots-

to shale.

Non-stop shale with an incline unfathomable to a flat-road runner like me.

Who's average run is about 10km.

And then I looked up.

It seemed as though the run had just begun. 

And unfortunately my body thought I was almost finished.

At one point my legs cramped- from my ankles to the top of my quads.

I just stood there...unable to comprehend what was happening.

A friendly runner passing by....heading DOWN the mountain asked me kindly if I was okay.

When I mentioned off-handedly my legs were cramping and stuck in one position...she asked me when my last gel intake was.

Darn!

I had forgotten the intake rule of "calories in" on a calorie burning run.

Within  a few minutes of downing a gel- my legs were in motion.

Again...plodding up the never-ending shale trail.

In the photo below:

Those tiny dots on the top of the rocks?

People.

People in my race way ahead of me.

Running.

And some of them were actually running DOWN!

I was still going up.

Talk about mind battle.

Maybe that's why the scenes like this below were positioned to the side of me.

(Kind of like distracting a crying baby with a squeaky toy.)

Although in this case....

it was calming a whining 30-something year-old with: 

"eye-level with the clouds" 

scenes.

Have you noticed I had my camera out during parts of this run?

I only dropped it ~twice.

It was during the last 2 km up to the summit when I decided that looking like my camera and I were here for just a scenery-capture was a good idea.

It gave me a chance to catch my breath.

Someone even called me a tourist.

So much for acting like a runner.

(Bet they can't even remember what the scenery looked like...

so busy were they trying to race against their clock.;)

I finally managed to reach 14.44km and turn myself around. 

Time was about 2 and 1/2 hours at this point.

Never had I run for that long in my entire life.

The run down took 1 and 1/2 hours....

which included consuming more calories at 2 aid stations,

feeling like I was in a dream, 

and at one point wondering where everyone had disappeared to....

(noticing that I wasn't even scared of coming round a corner to find a bear).

Oh...and I also asked a group of mountain bikers if I could borrow one of their bikes.

No one went for the idea.

I just wanted to be able to get down.

Without crawling.

There were times I wanted to sit.

Just sit.

And I also found it almost humorous that when I looked down and saw 19.9Km on my watch....

all I could say was..."Only 10km left!"

What?

ONLY?!?

10km is my LONG run on a good day~ on flat ground.

It's amazing what you can do when you have to.

And I did.

My feet carried me up and down and off the trail.

Last year I did 16km of this course.

This year...I (literally) tackled the 29km route.

The next distance?

I'm thinking about it.

Maybe after I can walk up the stairs at home here without crawling, 

I'll sign myself up for the 42km Mountain Marathon leg of this race.

Maybe.

Hitting the Trail

My 2 most favorite places on earth would have to be:

1.  the sandy beaches of anywhere overlooking vast bodies of water,

and here....

2. the majestic Rocky Mountains next door.

I'm heading out into these this weekend to run a 29km Trail Race.

Completely unprepared to race,
but because I feel I can breathe out here...it doesn't matter.
It may turn into a fast sort of hike.....which is fine by me.
 Maybe I can stop to take pictures instead of feeling the need to set a record;).

Regardless....I'm hoping these dusty old Trail shoes hold up for another trek up the mountain.

I'm in need of the head~break before another season of football, school, and

 running in all directions for the kiddos schedules.

Happy Trails to you....wherever this weekend takes you!