I love my solo time in the mountains. Last Saturday I  discovered new trails in an area I have frequented for many years. One moment I did not know of their existence and in the next  a whole new view and adventure opened up for me. Funny how so many things in life go like that.

Alone on mountain trails, my feet and mind strive to keep pace together:

I run beside a  flowing creek and  into shady hollows where thick ice still covers stream beds straining to trickle underneath. I scatter eight doe through the forest: The husband. He is there and I am here. For this gift of time alone I am grateful to him.  Golden meadow grass heavy with  frost does not escape my eye:  the kids all six, one by one pass in and through me.

Between pines brushing my arms and head I go: good friends I have.Some will return with me to these trails another day.  Over wooden bridges slick with the morning frost, over rocks and twisting roots: the boyfriend of the 22 year old, happy for her, grateful for him. Up a hillside into a clearing bordered by aspen groves, pine stands and a glorious blue sky bring my feet to pause, to turn, to take it all in: the joys and challenges of my life, how might I do better.

I come to an  inclined ridge with  no end in sight. Through the curve and bend of pine boughs I  see sunshine and blue skies ahead. In this I find hope and a desire to carry on. And I love a challenge: getting to  the top, to the “end of the trail”  so up this ridge I  go and go and go. A view of the beyond and many moments to bathe in warm, glorious sunlight is my reward at the top. Instinctively  and just as naturally as my breathing itself  I find myself praying with a depth and earnestness that does not come in all my prayers. Its weight and its strength is nourishing to my soul. All these people along my trail, they pass through my heart and mind again. Silent whispers of gratitude, pleas of help and hope and faith.

I love to solo on mountain trails and on this day I found new trails, new adventures and new-found peace.

Once.

And again.