Continuing on the path

I've hooked up with friend Sally and we've been walking every (M-F) morning for the past couple weeks. It's good to have a walking buddy again. We head out early, 7 am, to beat the summer heat and I'm back home by 8:15 am for iced coffee and the newspaper. I'm not all that thrilled to be waking up so early when I dont' "have" to, but I'll get over it. Early morning is the key because with work and above 100 temps and then all the crazy afternoon storms, that's the only time you'll catch this chick outside. The fire season is in full swing and the air is becoming hazy with smoke. Makes for incredible sun rises and sets, but crap to breathe. Anyway, I'm off to trot around on Shanks Ponies. See ya.

Good For What Ails You

A trip to the cabin is always a cure for what ails me. I couldn't wait to get there and couldn't stand the thought of leaving. We hiked to the waterfall through a narrow canyon of shear granite. It was cool and refreshing on a hot summer's day. Then on up to the top where there is a smaller waterfall that feeds the larger one below. We didn't attempt the decent from hell. We turned around and came back the way we went up. Feel so good to be in nature; smelling the smells (even the pine sol of the outhouse as the top of the trail head), hearing the sounds and just being. I also climbed up to robber's roost (see photo) which sits on the mountaintop overlooking the cabin. All the childhood tales of how it got its name came rushing back. As if robber's would really hang out up there and spy on the cabin, plotting their next big heist. What would they steal? The old enamelware basins? The hike felt great and then relaxing on the porch swing with a good book and a slightly cool beverage topped it off. Slightly cool because it was so dang hot that even the creek was only barely cool. Since that's where we chill our beverages, slightly cool was as good as it got. But it was over all too soon and it'll probably be another year before I get back. If only we lived closer.