Take a Hike by Mark Anthony King 10.29.08

Being a Midwesterner, past asthmatic and still trying to kick the nicotine fiend, hiking in the Rockies can be a little tough on a guy. Working so many hours the past three years at running an art gallery seems to be taking its toll on me physically. It has not exactly been the most physically demanding of career moves. It also keeps me from having the time to get out and do a lot of the things I used to do in place of actual exercise, like hike.

I’m usually working at the gallery seven days a week and many nights as well. I decided today I was going to take a day off, grab the camera, go somewhere I’ve never been before and let the world present itself to me. That’s typically how I shoot. No preconception, no goal, just go out and see what I see. Let the world present itself, or rather, reveal itself to me. I try to stay away from the “standard” locales as IMHO they are overburdened with exposure as it is. This is not really an easy way to capture an interesting scene, but more of an interesting way to capture a real scene. It seems to work for me, usually.

However, today I felt defiant. I was after all abandoning my business (which is really what it feels like when your not there to make sure everything is going smoothly). So in spite of myself I set out to a very popular place. A place well known to most Coloradoans anyway, Eldorado Canyon State Park near Boulder. It was new to me, I had only ever driven up to the entrance late one afternoon and finding that there was a fee, decided to put it off for a day when I could spend more time there (get my monies worth). That was about three years ago.

I have to admit I was ill prepared for this excursion. When I left home I had in the back of my mind that I would take a drive to somewhere I had never been and probably not hike more than a few hundred yards away from the Jeep. Donning my favorite worn out, formed to my feet cowboy boots, no tripod, no water or snacks, usually means I’m not straying too far. For whatever reason, I decided I would take a hike today, a real hike; at least part of one anyway. Eldorado came to mind and I set the autopilot to get me there. Surely I could go out a couple of miles and find something interesting.

Now typically my wife serves as trail guide on these excursions and has a keen sense for finding the coolest trails. Today however, I’m on my own. She’s in school and I have the day to explore, alone. I soon find that this is not so much fun alone. No conversation (despite the constant rambling in my head), no laughter and no leash. She’s very good at getting me to try to keep up with her. I find without her, I’m in no great hurry to get to I don’t know where.

Like I said, I’m (we are) originally from the Midwest. The hiking I am most accustomed to is from the couch to the fridge on a nice flat carpeted surface. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve done our share of trails and mountain hikes. Most of that was about 9 years ago during our wonderful 4 month honeymoon road trip all over the country and several shorter trips between then and now. I guess it’s been a while though. Today it felt like a whole new challenge just getting up the first few switchbacks starting out the trail.

I guess it’s easier when you have the wife along, you can’t wuss out (gotta keep up). So anyway, I’m going and the more I go the more I start enjoying it. OK this hiking alone isn’t so bad (listen to the wind rustling through the trees; hear the birdsong; take a break if you’re tired). I do. I listen to the voice in my head. Why not - it’s mine? I sit for a couple of minutes, catch my breath, listen to the wind, the birds, OK I’m ready to continue, let’s go.

I go a couple more switchbacks (they’re getting longer now. I like the longer switchbacks). I feel compelled to stop again. I don’t (just do what you would do if Haydee was here, keep going). I see the turn of the next switchback. I tell myself I can at least make it that far before stopping for a (short) break. It is hard for us smokers to keep going up and up and up…

I’m not getting any good shots, not “feeling” anything (not yet, keep going, something will reveal itself). I reach my resting point – flat trail ahead. OK I can keep going to the next rise, and then I’ll rest. I’m getting higher and higher (elevation, not the other). I’m really starting to enjoy the hike. That’s the funny thing about hiking for me, it seems like a real pain at first, but once I’m committed, it gets better.

What’s going on here? The trail seems to be disappearing in front of me. It’s getting thinner, less defined then it turns into a pretty good sized boulder field (they don’t call it Boulder for nothing…). I’m sure if Haydee were here this would not have happened. I’d still be chasing. I find a comfortable boulder to relax on and ponder. Do I try to make my way across the boulder field in these beat-up slick heeled cowboy boots? It doesn’t seem like a good idea considering I’m alone. If I do, will I be able to find the trail on the other side? I surely can’t see it from here. Where would it be? Doesn’t seem to make much sense that the trail would cross here, I sit.

I’ll just relax here for a bit and see if anything opens up to me. I’ll soak up nature in all her glory. Ten minutes pass (feels like thirty). Maybe I’ll try going up more, maybe I just got off the trail a bit. I do, nope, no trail here.I scramble up a few more boulders, getting steeper. Not feeling to sure footed here. Then I knock a good size rock loose. Shit! It’s rolling down at a good pace with no end in site. Hope no one’s down there. I don’t hear anyone, no cries, no screams. Must be OK. ( if I was down there I wouldn't be anticipating a rock to the head - I wouldn’t have time to yell or scream either). I hope there was nobody there. I hope it’s OK.

The trail can’t end here, it’s a long trail and I haven’t been here long enough to have completed it by any means. (Retrace your steps) I do. There’s the problem. I was so tired when I got to this point I missed a switchback. This was just a little side trail to the boulder field. This is better. I’m well rested now, I can continue up. I’d like to do at least a mile or better before I turn around (so thirsty, unprepared, keep going don’t be a quitter). I go on.

I hit my stride, feeling good now, getting somewhere. I’m thirsty, but I ignore it and go on. I pull off about a good quarter mile or so. Then I find a beautiful panorama. I can see the Continental Divide peeking up over the ridgeline in the distance. I stop. I sit.I break out the camera. There is no way I can capture this elegance of nature. Not with the equipment I brought today. Not with any equipment I have. Some scenes are just “you have to be there” scenes. To bad I don’t have smell-o-vision the ponderosas smell so damn good I can almost taste it. Can’t capture that, or the sound of the wind, or the birdsong. No, some things you just get to experience. You can’t take it all with you.

I’m lucky to be here. I think of how lucky I am. I think of all the bad decisions I’ve had the opportunity to make but didn’t. I think of how great my life has turned out to be. For me anyway. I’m not so sure my life has had any great impact on anyone else. I hope that I’ve had some positive impact on those that I love. I hope that I’ve influenced others to make good choices when given the opportunity. Hard to quantify those things. I count my stars, thank them and move on. Glad I did this today (you never know what tomorrow will bring).

Want advice?…don’t smoke. If you haven’t started, don’t. When you get here you’ll enjoy it all the better and it’ll be so much easier for you to get here than it is for me. Will you enjoy it more then? How would I know? I don't, but I think I do.

I climb higher. I breathe harder. Rested too long, enjoyed too much. Now it’s like starting over from the bottom. I forge on (so thirsty). I climb several more switchbacks. I feel like I’m getting closer to the top. The canyon looks pretty distant. I turn around, look behind me. I keep thinking I hear footsteps behind me. Nothing there. I go on. It’s getting very hot, no, I’m getting very hot. Again the footsteps. This time louder. I turn again, still no one there.

I realize I’m not going to get to the crest. It’s still very far away. I gauge how many more switchbacks to get me there. Too many. It must be another mile or so away. I’m too thirsty. I still have to go back down. I’m content with not making it to the top. I do want to go a little further though. I still haven’t got the shot I was after. I realize now I won’t. That’s OK; I’ve had a nice hike. I sit again.

The footsteps again, behind me. Wait, it’s not footsteps, it’s the blood pumping to my head, my ears are hot, it feels like my blood is pumping faster than my heartbeat. Is that possible?I’ll just relax for a while. This hiking stuff should be relaxing shouldn’t it? I sit for about fifteen minutes. I feel better. It sure seemed easier hiking with Haydee around. I miss her. I always tell myself I’d take better shots if she weren’t with me on these hikes. That somehow, having to deal with someone else’s input has an effect on how I shoot. That it’s too distracting, or that I’m rushed. That all seems illogical now. Here I am, perfect opportunity, still no shot. I start my descent. I need a smoke.