Wilderness and Running

Being away from other people, traffic, noises that clutter our minds, that's what being out in the wilderness is about.  Instead we hear the sounds of nature, the sounds that are not pushed on you but part of a world we are rarely a part of.

Taking off for a run out there doesn't require an ipod, instead it only requires that you open your ears to the music of nature.  And so on two days while we were there I took off on my own to enjoy God's natural world.

Running on the dirt and rocks your footsteps carry a softer sound, the cool breeze softly flows across my face as I run.  I hear the birds as they flit in and out of my path, and occassionally I hear a noise in the pines around me, I am not sure I really want to know what is there.  I see squirrels stocking up on pine cones for the upcoming winter, ah the beauty. 

Of course as you would expect in the mountains there are hills, and I don't mean just hills, I mean HILLS and we are in high altitude that means that soon the sound of my breathing takes over as I huff and puff up the long steep hills and then at last summit.  The downhill feels wonderful and again I enjoy the sounds of nature when at one point I almost step on a snake lying in the dirt sunning himself.  He barely moved when I politely said "oh excuse me" and jumped to the right to avoid stepping on him.  And then it's another hill this one not as long but steeper, again with the huffing and puffing, my lungs longed to fill with air!  At the top of this hill I stopped, it was imperative that before I continue I catch my breath! 

While taking a short rest and drinking some water I began to have this rather uncomfortable feeling, as if someone or something was watching me.  Who would be out here, I was completely alone, no cars, no people, nothing and yet it was an unmistakeable feeling.  I slowly begin to canvas the landscape, looking through the pines and aspens wondering if perhaps someone was hunting as it is bow season for elk and bear.  Nothing.  So I turn and canvas the forrest behind me...lo and behold there he is...a buck.  Not a large one, an 8 point I think,  he is just staring at me from behind the trees with this confused look on his face. 

No doubt he is wondering what this crazy human is doing running, "running from what?", he may be wondering.  I stared back at him for a few seconds (seemed longer) and then politely said goodbye and continued on.  Wow, how funny I thought to myself.  We are always looking for deer or elk as they are so much more fascinating when they are in the wild as opposed to munching on the golf courses in the mountains.  And there he was watching me with this bewildered look about him.

My run that day was amazing with the crisp cool air, the smell of pine and aspen, the wildlife and best of all Terry waiting for me at the base of a really big hill which would have been an additional uphill mile that was not to be included in my run.  I had run too far and he had come to sit by the road to wait, saving me from the pain of that last big hill. I think he wanted to be sure I wasn't too tired for fishing later.