Today I had lots of plans but ended up abruptly leaving the city. As soon as I got on the road on my way to Rocky Mountains National Park, a sense of peace and tranquility came over me. The magnificent view of the mountains on the horizon was whispering home to my heart. 

Soon enough I had no cell signal and it was just me, the road and the country side. I was in awe with all the shades of green of Colorado in the summer time. I was blasting the music, singing to the top of my lungs, letting all my worries go away if even just for a few hours. 

The river was making me company alongside the road, the pine trees kept getting greener and lusher as I drove more and more into the mountains. The river’s crystalline water over the rocks brought a strong memory to my mind. I was back to last summer at Yosemite National Park admiring the majestic Vernal and Nevada falls. Memories of my year on the road started flooding me, filling me with a bittersweet nostalgia and deep gratitude. 

I started my hike feeling excited and light-hearted; like I had already left some of those heavy emotions I was carrying wash away on the road. Immediately Mother Earth covered me in the scent of pine trees and the feel of a subtle breeze of fresh air. I was HOME. I started saying thank you out loud LOL I think thanking nature, thanking myself, and thanking life for taking me here. The trail was full of all sorts of green, and yellow and lilac wildflowers everywhere, sparkling under the morning sunlight. I was happy. 

Throughout the journey to get to my hiking destination, I was experiencing an emotional & mental journey back into the last year and a half since I quit my job and went to live on the road. I remembered that one time on a hike when I turned a corner and there was a young bear playing with a tree trunk. I remembered going up the cables of Half Dome with my friend Derek (I still can’t believe I did that), getting lost while hiking in snow for the first time at Great Basin, all the people I met on the trails and all the literal and figurative mountains I’ve conquered. 

At the end of the trail, Ouzel falls was waiting for me, its waters wild and free. I took my hiking boots off and without a second thought got my feet into the water. It was freezing cold! The cold temperature was creeping up my body but I didn’t care; it was as if it was awakening me all over again to the beauty of nature that I never want to become immune to. 

I’ve been feeling out of balance and ungrounded lately and most recently getting kind of down on myself, but all these memories and this present experience brought a certainty to my heart of how strong I truly am. I felt like a wildflower, swelling from tender bud to full bloom but also fragile and aware of the swift passage of life. And I was ok with it.