I haven’t been getting out to hike nearly as much as I’d like to.
It’s not for lack of want, but lack of time. Either way, being that this is my last week off before I start my new 9-to-5, I’m going to make an effort to get out there and get my head right.
Clear the thoughts.
Clear the cobwebs.
Switch gears and get back into the groove.
Today was a wicked good day out on Ragged.
Spring sprung more than a month ago, so everything has filled in nicely. As that part of the forest settled, the bugs and birds took up the reigns and are settling into their role under the canopy.
The American Robin, though not uncommon, has shown up in abundance. So much so that I would consider them to be the stewards of the preserve.
Laid back in general, the Robins don’t mind you walking by and taking your time. With all the caterpillars dangling from the trees, it’s a full-on feeding frenzy out there. So they’re fat and happy and you’re just part of the movie.
I did get the chance to catch an Ovenbird, part of the Warbler family, sitting on a limb. They didn’t mind me taking a picture of them, which I thanked them for, but from afar.
Beyond the birds and the lay of the land, the hiking today was a real escape. I like to get my heart rate up to 130-135 and keep it there for a while and today provided that ability in spades. In that, I was able to detach myself and only really come back to reality when there was a change in terrain, or someone wandered by.
I’m a woodland scavenger – I like to focus on the trinkets on and around the trail.
Being that I’ve hiked this trail a hundred times, but never the same way twice, I can take a step back and zone out while keeping a solid pace and filling my pockets.
Feathers.
Rocks.
Flowers.
I like to bring these things back to share with the girls, but they also serve as a waypoint a year or two down the road – something I can look and remind myself of a particular minute or a particular day out there. I’ll have a new scar after this one as well, as I popped a hole in my palm flicking out this Benchmade I’ve been testing out for the last few months.
I stroped it before I left the house and the way it hit my hand when I was opening it made it easy to slip into one of the soft spots. There was very little blood, and it seems to have closed up during the hike but cuts like this always make a scar.
For reference: I took the ‘Ragged Mountain Trail’ – blazed blue and red – to the left of the trailhead on West Lane. It’s close enough to two miles and two hours and it’s easy to wander on, around, and off of without really losing your bearings. It cuts over to the blue and yellow trail, and then I usually hop off onto an old truck trail. One of these days I want to just continue on and see what I can see. I’ve taken that hike before, but it’s been a while. I’ve got a new pack coming my way to test out – it would be a prime hike to see what it can do.
I’m naming this entry “So Many Roads” because the song has stayed lingering in my brain since JRAD played it on Saturday night at Westville. It tracks because these woods are loaded with so many trails – marked and unmarked – and I’ve been down most of them if not all of them.
Garcia really got behind that song towards his tenure with the Dead, and this life in general. It’s a real sleeper, but he would pop up toward the end and really make it swing. Tom Hamilton did the same at the show on Saturday. Really ripped through the fabric of reality. It was great to experience that with Ian and TJ.
I need more hikes like the one I hiked today. I’m still riding on its ethereal fumes as I wait to pick up the girls from school. It’s quite possibly the perfect May Day, only to get better by the stories they’re going to tell me.
Tribe Of Flannel 