on the trail after our 1 hour ascent at 8am this morning
1:07 PM: this morning we took our one hour walk up the trail. it was still wet from yesterdays rains, and the fragrances were unbelievable. made you happy to be alive and in a body.
so absorbed was i in ruminating on my carbondale arts talk on the afternoon of august 8th: https://www.carbondalearts.com/upcoming-exhibitions/motion-philip-tarlow
that i was shocked and amazed when we arrived at our destination. the trail walk is a great time to get ideas, and i got plenty of them this morning.
on the way back down, i saw this branch with the most striking orange lichen! the color was set off by the wet deep brown wood of the branch. the phot doesn’t really do it justice, but, believe me, it more orange than an orange, more alive than a wiggling worm and just as inspiring. you never know what to expect on the trail. just keep your wits about you and have good boots, because, for about 1/4 of the journey up, and then down, there’s a sheer 500 ft. drop just inches from where we walk, with nothing between you and the rushing creek below but very large, very ancient, very sharp boulders.