Special Delivery, and a Beautiful Hike

Tonight, I was allowed to take some things to a friend. I turned it into a two’fer because I have wanted to hike up there since I got my legs back under me, and this presented the perfect opportunity. Sometimes, it doesn’t sound healthy, but in this case, it brings me peace to be someone’s friend, even if they aren’t my friend (for lack of a better explanation). I owe this person more than they’ll ever know, and I’m sure I come across as pretty messed up, weird, and out of my mind, but in giving back, I feel better about making amends and it gives me a boost to continue learning, growing, and maturing (I laughed at maturing, because sometimes I feel like a snot nosed kid – I’m a work in progress).

Not so many years ago, I was not a very kind person it turns out. I wasn’t caring with my words, I wasn’t present, and I lacked the ability to express myself clearly with out my words damaging an already fragile situation.

Tonight was an unexpected, happy accident. I was supposed to take a different trail, but forgot to download the maps to AllTrails (link leads to my hike), and ended up just walking around blindly until I found a trial.

I knew I wasn’t on the path I wanted to be on, but it ended up being a wonderful diversion. My mood was comfortable, the smells were clean, and seeing people on the trail was a nice change actually. Normally when I’m hiking I like the absolute solitude of just me, the dirt crunching under my boots, and the sound of nature keeping my ears busy.

There was a crazy bridge along the way. A few good sized rocks (boulders might be a little strong) had fallen down and crushed part of the bridge. It made for an interesting, and beautiful image. The sun was going down, so the images are dark as a result. I feel it gives them great atmosphere, and I let the darkness soak into most parts of the image.

I don’t know what it is, but ever since high school, when I took photography, I’ve liked to get the little details. I mean, a wide expansive landscape is beautiful, but when you can contrast some texture with some crazy Bokeh, it just feels interesting to me, hold my eye, and lets me dig into the details of the image that’s most in focus.

Here is the picture of the ladies and their dogs. They didn’t speak much English, and I speak ZIP Spanish, so I really appreciate them pausing to let me take their picture (I only had one shot, I didn’t nail it, but it is good enough for now. I need more practice taking images of people,

In this case, it was some rotten logs that were along the trail. The color was amazing, the texture was visceral, and here is my attempt at catching that in a photograph.

I’m sure it is time for me to move alone to the next step in my journey. For now, here are some random images I just like, no particular reason, they just appeal to me in either a composition way, colors, or just interesting light and texture.

Finally, me. I mean I can’t post a blog about my journey with out pictures of me, I guess. I put them down here a the end in case you’ve had enough of my selfie smile, skinny chicken legs, and Aussie style hat.