Day 4 - The Mountains Are Calling And I Must Go

After realizing yesterday that I was going to be trapped in the house for an extended period of time over the next few weeks, I determined that I needed to go to the mountains immediately. I set my alarm for 3AM, and I was on the road by 4:15 this morning. I arrived at the Harvard Lakes Trailhead at 6:30AM, and I was on the trail by 6:45. And after a 2 hour car ride and 4.5 hour hike, I arrived at the summit of Mt. Harvard (evelation 14,420') at 11AM! I spent about an hour at the summit, chatting with other hikers and eating a sandwich. I stopped periodically on my way both up and down the mountian to write in my OM journal, and I thought I'd share the musings of my 14 mile journey. Part I - Enjoy!

There's something to be said for the beauty of solitude in nature. It is a calm, a peace like no other. I can hear everything. The animals, the wind in the grass, the gentle bubble of a nearby stream, my hand sliding across the page as I write. Bear Lake is beautiful. Its water is a clear, cool turquoise-blue, almost like the Caribbean sea. The mountain goats crowd the trail like eager tourists.

I can't believe I've been so lucky to see so much of this beautiful state this summer! Colorado is truly paradise. The soft, singing chirp of some bird or mammal echoes through the valley. The skies look as though an afternoon storm will soon roll in. Yet, I have seldom felt more content that I do in this moment, sitting on this rock with a million-dollar view that I earned, step-by-step, while I listen to the sounds of the wild.

Sitting here like this, I do not believe God can be found in a Church or an artifact or a hymn. God is here, in this magnificent landscape that is absolutely flawless. God is in the chilled breeze, the whisper of the brook, the chirp of the marmots, and the shadows of the clouds. God is here, with me, in me, in the fullness I experience while moving across this virgin landscape, virtually untouched by man. Here, I have no conception of where the world begins and I end. This is my flow, this is my line, this is my heaven.

#nature #travel #wanderlust #colorado #hiking #prose #writing #travelwriting