Yesterday my husband & I climbed 2,500 feet up the side of a mountain and much of our hike was steep and strenuous causing us to gasp for air, all to reach a place we have been to many times before. Why?
This is a reflective journey for us. I first remember hearing about Waterdog in one the Bruce’s many letters during the years before our marriage. (Once upon a time, before personal PC’s and cell phones, letter writing was the mode of regular communication between lovers)
However it is not the fast jeep ride of his pre-Julie days in getting to Waterdog that is inspiring but rather the arduous climb together that is reflective. One of my favorite parts of the climb is the aspen forest in the autumn. God’s Cathedral. Aspen leaves cover the forest floor like confetti. Trees are gently rocking in unison, creating a soft song and a visible pattern, as golden leaves touch each other against the bluest skies. I sit in awe each time we are up here, bending backward, looking upward, taking pictures, trying to take everything in – my husband now no where in sight, continues upward. I pick up leaves – very large bright yellow ones, some red with yellow veins and some just the opposite, some multicolored red, yellow and green and some bright orange or yellow with an orange tip. I show the more unusual ones to my husband. Bruce would later hand me a long ago used hornet’s nest and a delicious smelling piece of pine tree that had fallen off a branch.
Another favorite part of this hike is the view after the first forest: the colors of the aspen & the pine green at the foot of so many mountains that are seldom visible at that same time; Red Mountain, Crystal Peak and Uncompahgre’s distinctive shape against that blue blue sky is another blessing, another place to sit and be still…
In another forest on this journey the Aspen leaves are now much thicker, actually soft underfoot like a carpet. We see wildlife up here which has eluded us in the past on this hike. We hear a new noise like an animal in distress and finally see two deer running out of the woods, a moment later a third one, smaller & crying for them to wait; not unlike older siblings taunting a younger one. Elk rush pass through the forest so near I feel the ground move.
I need to stop for a drink, for my pear, to rest, for another drink, for the half banana I hadn’t finished at breakfast, to join Bruce on a log, yes, I am VERY tired of walking! Thankfully Waterdog is closer than Bruce remembered. We are all alone as I expected we would be. We eat the picnic lunch I had prepared at 7:00 that morning. Food taste best outdoors in a pretty spot and Waterdog certainly provides that. We talk about coming up to Waterdog on our honeymoon and many times later with our children at different growing-up stages & now the two of us again.
Waterdog isn’t glorious as she has been in past visits. The leaves by the lake are green & brown – don’t think they’ll turn pretty this season. They got too cold too quickly the other day when we got a very cold snap – still pretty but not gorgeous.
I have dreamy pictures of Waterdog with yellow aspen reflected in blue water ~ also with snow & pine trees & that sapphire sky & water ~ the kind of pictures that can be turned either way ~ but not this year. This isn’t Disneyland. The hike was gorgeous & hard. Today we are stiff & sore. Why do we do it? If you need to ask it cannot be explained sufficiently. We are planning to hike Crystal Peak within a week. It will be harder & longer & even more spectacular & unique.