So, this past weekend I went camping. Haven't done such a thing in well over a decade. Not because I didn't want to, but because I have not had the opportunity. It seems that the past couple of months have been about creating my own opportunities and so I reached out to a friend, made a plan and went camping. Well, it almost went like that...
We had originally planned to go to Moab, UT. I have never been and with my relatively new photography hobby firmly in place, I wanted to take magnificent photos in a place like Arches National Park. The novice traveler/camper in me didn't really think through the 100 degree weather there this time of year. So, we changed our plans. To Crested Butte we would go! This was a decision once again driven by my desire to photograph amazing things. We were all ready to get an early (3am) start so we could get there and find a camping spot. Unfortunately Mother Nature planned for lots of rain and cooler temperatures in Crested Butte. After a little early morning research, we settled on going to the Buena Vista area where it would be around ten degrees warmer than Crested Butte and maybe a bit less rainy.
With that decision finally behind us and less driving to do, we took a nap.
Apparently that nap didn't refresh me quite as much as I had thought because about half an hour or so into our drive I realized I had left my ground pad at home. This was a problem. So, in typical Karen fashion, back to my place we went. The rest of the drive was uneventful.
We reached our campsite near the Browns Creek Trailhead in early afternoon and set up camp. Tired from all that 3am decision-making, we did some reading and took another nap. The evening was once again, uneventful.
I didn't sleep spectacularly, but I wasn't cold which had been my main concern. I woke up on Saturday excited to tackle the trailhead! We had decided the night before to try the 12 mile roundtrip hike to Browns Lake. It is an out and back trail, so we could just turn around whenever we wanted to. I have been doing a good amount of hiking recently, but nothing longer than about 3 miles. We headed out and my camera shutter began to snap photos. I am likely not the absolute greatest hiking companion because I am already pretty slow and I like to stop frequently to catch that 'perfect shot'. And when you are surrounded by amazing scenery, perfect shots are plentiful. Browns Falls is 3 miles into the hike. I love waterfalls, but who doesn't? At this point my camping friend made the decision that her back was bothering her and she did not have more hiking to give today. I was feeling energized by the hiking we had done so far, and she encouraged me to continue the trail without her. And that is what I did.
Since I am slow and take hundreds of photos along the way, it is really difficult for me to gauge how far I have hiked. I frequently just get the feeling that I have been hiking for a long time. Keep in mind for me the length of time and the distance I have travelled don't usually match up to what is estimated in any website guide. So I just kept hiking. The entire trail of this hike is a mixed bag. I gained 2,000 feet of elevation, but spread out. Many sections had a steep incline, but there were also places where things leveled out quite a bit. As I reached higher elevation, I moved closer to the magnificent peaks surrounding the area. Mt. Antero, Mt. White and the other incredible peaks are really something to behold! Much of my motivation for hiking is about getting higher and closer to more spectacular sights. And I kept hiking.
I hadn't seen another person for a long time. Being on my own doesn't generally bother me. Actually, the introspective part of hiking really fascinates me. I seem to have such little time for that in my day-to-day life, while being alone on a trail demands it of you. Alone with my thoughts and fully aware of my body, I kept hiking. I was pushing my physical limits, but there is something completely exhilarating about doing so. And I kept hiking.
I know, you are probably wondering when all of this hiking finally ends at a lake, right? Well, by now I was wondering that myself. In fact, I was doing more than that. I began to doubt. Did I take the right trail? How about those storm clouds rolling in? How far have I gone? Why haven't I seen a single other person? What was that sound? I was asking all of these questions, but when it came right down to it I was just doubting myself. And then I got nervous. Makes sense. I am not an experienced hiker and I had been hiking for what seemed like forever. I was all by myself and I had no real idea what I was even doing trying to hike for six miles in both directions. And this was the moment when I got nervous enough that I turned around. Getting lost or struck by lightning was not on my agenda for the day.
Now, I am not sure where I stand on higher powers or divine intervention, but not a minute into my descent, a family approached me heading up the trailhead on horseback. Hadn't seen another creature aside from bugs for hours and now there were three people and three horses. I asked the man in the front of the line if I had been headed in the right direction for the lake. He said yes, couldn't tell me exactly how far, but the woman in the back of the line indicated that I was closer than not.
So I put the energy I spent doubting myself into the thought that I would be awfully pissed off to have hiked so far and turned around so close to my destination. I turned back up the trial and kept hiking. A young couple passed by me a short time after that (like I said earlier, I'm slow). There was a lot of incline to the end of the hike. But let me tell you that all of that work is so worth it because those peaks that had been a distant backdrop earlier were now front and center in my view. And then the wildflowers kicked in! My camera was working just as hard as my legs, which explains why it took me so long to finish this last bit of the trail.
When I finally reached the lake I almost cried. I'm not really even that emotional of a person (or so I'd like to think), but I was overwhelmed in that moment. The near crying turned to elation pretty quickly. The lake was beautiful! The peaks were standing tall on all sides. Tree line was all around me. The sentiment on my social media postings was "Hoo-ahh!" Doesn't quite capture my feelings, but it'll have to do. I roamed around by the lake for a bit, had the family who had passed by on horseback take my photo, and took more photos myself.
And then what did I do? I kept hiking. Of course I kept hiking. Now that I had travelled six miles up to the lake, I had to travel six miles back down. That's how it works. Down is much easier on the cardiovascular system, but much harder on the joints. I went quickly on the flat sections, but had to be careful on the steeper parts as it had started to sprinkle and some places were a little slick. My legs were dragging because they were tired. I tripped more times than I would like to admit. But I kept hiking.
I kept testing my phone for service because by now it was well past 4 in the afternoon and I was sure my friend, waiting for me back at the trailhead, thought who only knows what might have happened to me. It was 11:15am when she left me at the falls. I didn't get service until I was almost back to the trailhead. That's when her text, which read "You ok?" came through. She sent it at 3:35. I quickly let her know that I was great, just slow. I had paid enough attention on my way up that I could spot landmarks on the way back that indicated how far I had to go. Before I knew it I was back at the trailhead.
I made the comment to my friend as we were leaving the campsite the day after that it is funny how time passes so differently depending on how we use it. I spent as long hiking on Saturday as I would during a full workday. But it felt so different. I'm not sure how to explain that any better. What I can tell you is that I encountered several people on my way back down the trail. And just as on every other hike I have been on, they were all so friendly. I feel like if you say hello to a random person on the street they often look at you like you are strange. When you say hello to someone on a hiking trail, this amazing phenomenon happens: they say hello back. Sometimes they even say hello first. Crazy, right?!? People who are out in nature are in a good mood. It's that simple. And so I am going to keep hiking.
Like I said earlier, the past couple of months have been about creating my own opportunities. I seriously recommend you try this out. You'll have to start out slow. You will doubt yourself. You will get nervous. And your feet will drag enough for you to trip more often than you'd like to admit. However, I am telling you from experience, you can catch the fall.
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