Is it possible to start a hike too early in the day? Maybe in January, but not now. At 7000 feet you wake up freezing, blink a couple times and then the sun, the Death-Star of the Southwest, burns your eyes into charcoals.
At first I was afraid that it would be a boring boreal hike. But the trail was on a rocky ridge, exposed to a good breeze. And it was steep. I loved it.
There were some impressive alligator juniper trees on the way up. They have huge trunks and grow into bizarre shapes. And the bark does look like an alligator.
Fires from summers past have left their mark here. One burned-out trunk was remarkable in that only the thin outer husk has survived. It was eaten from the inside by fire or bugs--eaten like a child eating an Oreo cookie.
This trail was steep. I was starting to feel a little crazy with the aerobic buzz. Have you noticed how your hands and fingers feel like a pair of hydraulic vise-grips on a spirited hike? I guess it's from all the blood.
I touched the trunk of a ponderosa with my blood-engorged fingers. My gringo skin looked pinkish. The color combined in a pleasant and harmonious way with the cinnamon bark of the ponderosa. I was disappointed that the furrows of the bark weren't complementary with my fingers.
The little poodle, over 13 now, had quite an aerobic buzz going by now. He just plowed up that trail. He was acting five years younger today, for some reason.
It was irresistible fun for me to imagine him as two dogs today, especially since his color blended into the ground, and his shadow was more visible. Think of it as more than a shadow. It's his doppelganger...maybe his younger self...his "soul" that was standing outside his body?
If every fat man has a skinny man inside trying to get out, as the old saying goes, maybe something like that is true for an old dog.
He was in ecstasy today--ekstasis in Greek, means 'standing outside.' Human outdoorsmen know how he felt. Under the influence of endorphins, fresh air and scenery, we can feel the same thing.
