Sunday Smiles

Happy Sunday! I'm still smiling from the great hike I did on Thursday. I took lots of pictures, care to virtually hike along with me?

 

I drive past this trail every day. For several years I kept saying to myself that I was going to find out where that trail goes! I had some vague idea, but the trail head remained an alluring mystery.

 

So you can just imagine how exciting it was to start this hike, after saying to myself the night before, I AM going to hike that trail tomorrow! 

 

I found out the trail led to a pond after 3.3 miles. It was so fun walking someplace I hadn't been before. So many different sights to take in. It was a beautiful trail!

 

There were a few little hills which made it a good work out, but not enough to make it feel difficult, and just enough to keep it interesting!

 

I kept my eyes out for some more colorful trees as I went.

 

The oak trees were busy dropping acorns and there were several squirrels running around and chirping up quite the racket! At one point I imagined I was walking through a gauntlet where angry, chirping squirrels were trying to throw acorns at me. (You may be right Sarah!)

 

I'm such a sucker for trees, and the compositions that their lines make!

 

It took only an hour to make it to the lovely pond. I was delighted to find that it was rimmed with some pretty trees!

 

 

Instead of pulling out my hammock, I decided to sit in the sun on a rock by the pond and have some lunch. The sun felt so good.

 

In the bottom left of the photo above, beyond the crazy roots of a fallen tree, you can see the beginning of a little bridge. It's the start of another trail. You have no idea how tempting it was to hike to the top of that mountain! But I figured it wasn't very smart to double my total hiking mileage... Although, I could drive to this pond, and then just walk the 3 miles to the top of the mountain... Next time!!

 

 

On my way to the pond, I met a man who was running the trail. He said he runs the trail all the time and loves how the winding trail just lets his mind wander. (It made me want to get back into running!)

 

He was definitely right about the mind wandering. I found myself contemplating things like the role perception plays in creating our personal view of the world, how I used to see this as a more passive role, and how perceptions and beliefs could actually play a more active, creative role in crafting our own unique worlds... Common contemplations right? Maybe I should hike this trail more often! 

 

One of my favorite things about walking through the woods is seeing the light shine through the trees, illuminating spots here and there, and throwing shadows... So pretty!

 

But I think the best part about this hike was actually doing something that I've wanted to do for so long. It was a nice sense of accomplishment, and it felt like a nice thing to do for myself!

Just looking at these pictures again makes me itch to go back! And I think I hear that mountain calling my name...

Have a splendiferously smiling Sunday my friends!