Finding my peace

I often find when I am traveling by foot along a wilderness trail, that I am simply overwhelmed by beauty.

How can the earth create such stunning tapestries? And not just the visuals, but the sounds, smells, and something else. The earth sends out this sort of vibration in certain places. It’s like a hum.

When I am feeling lost, or confused, that hum- that vibration- never fails to bring me back. Back to peace, calm, compassion, and most of all, connectedness.

This weekend, I found my peace in a slice of Tahoe beauty just off Echo Summit on Highway 50. I left early in the morning Saturday with my trusty van Betsy, and was on the trail trotting along to an empty mind by 8:45 am.

Fall colors were showing off and the trail was quiet and empty.

I am often amazed at trail builders. The moving of granite boulders and the creation of stairways up to mountain passes sets my imagination off- the work of this all is beyond my 5’2’’ frame.

I visited Showers Lake and managed a tidy 15 miler, but was left craving a longer journey.

Still, I had found my peace. I left the wilderness for lunch and tooling around South Lake Tahoe with a clarity that I had been missing.

Next morning, I awoke in Betsy at the trailhead for Echo Lakes North of Echo Summit and was moving on trail by 7:30 am. One word to describe my morning: Thankful.

When we spend time in nature, I believe we are stripped of our ego, our neuroses, and in exchange given humility, and comfort and joy. I think also, we develop an obligation- a call to action- to give back to nature- to take care of our planet.

How can anyone stand among the achingly beautiful wonders of earth and not want to heal it? Not want to heal ourselves and each other? With wildfires devastating California right now, a signs of drought with low lakes this autumn and no rain in sight… indeed, we must act to protect the earth. She is resilient, but she is calling for help.