I spent the day yesterday with my favorite hiker Mike! We had beautiful weather, and views as the smoke had cleared from some of the summer wildfires. We walked up to Monarch Ridge North from our A-frame where we live in Garfield. It is not an easy hike, and took almost 3 hours of uphill steep hiking to reach our destination.

At home we can hear the Hwy 50 traffic, but as we got above 10,000 feet it dissipated. Peacefulness and the forest beauty enveloped us as we meander amongst the rocks, trees, and tiny wildflowers. Higher and higher we made our way up

As we get higher, the oxygen contained in the air we breathe in is lower, so found ourselves not talking as much as usual. I get to doing a lot of mind wandering, meaning thinking to myself about life, what I see, or perhaps think about what is next. It is always interesting how the brain will work out a problem or bring up an issue I needed to think about. There are studies about how the brain works so much better when the body is in motion. I know this to be true for me.

Thanks for coming along with me on my latest hike. We hiked up here four years ago, and I remembered why it is a once every four year hike!