Contemplative Hiking

When our apple and plum tree began to bud out in mid-March, I knew we were having an unusually early spring along the Front Range. I’ve lived here since 1994 and haven’t seen trees leafed out earlier than mid-April, and certainly not late March. We did have a snowy October through December, but January through [...]

The snowstorm that descending on the Front Range February 2nd and 3rd was a record breaker—the most snow in the month of February since records had been kept in the area. It was certainly a lot of moisture. Boulder got close to 18 inches of heavy, wet snow. A day after the snow stopped falling, [...]

Our discussion of predatory animals persisted at least 20 minutes into our hike, which indicated to me that we were still a bit on edge and nervous about hiking around in the dark, despite being rather loud and in a group. There’s just something about how the trees and boulders became these black, one-dimensional shapes heightens my level of awareness and anxiety.

If stars evolved into humans in order to be self-aware, what is our purpose as human beings in the Universe?

I would have to say that the beautiful variations in the landscape and the solitary nature of the walk due to its lack of popularity (not many know about it and there’s not a lot of parking) make this my favorite hiking trail within a half an hour of the Denver/Boulder suburbs.

This is a great contemplative hike for children and families. It doesn’t need to be silent. Location: Between Eldorado Springs and South Boulder. Directions: Take Highway 93 from Golden or Boulder, turn west on CO-170, go 1.7 miles to the South Mesa trailhead. Park on the north side. Duration: Approximately 2 hours Route: from the [...]

Hiking in Hall Ranch today felt like I was beamed up to some random trail in Arizona. It was downright HOT, cacti grow everywhere, and all that was needed to complete the illusion was the lonely screech of a circling hawk or vulture (ha!).

Photos from a post-blizzard early spring hike at Chautauqua McClintock trail.

This place feels like a secret, a retreat from the world, an impression I’m sure was heightened because we were the only people on the trail the entire way up, and on the way down ran into a couple of college students sitting on a stump, smoking a joint.

Does the experience of the land have anything to do with the feeling we get from it?