Earlier today I went on a long hike by myself in Walnut Creek (Shell Ridge: Twin Ponds Loop  — highly recommend).

Left alone with my thoughts and sounds of nature I realized our life trajectories are very similar to the experience of a hike…

  • Childhood) Who suggested this hike? Why do we have to do it? The car ride there is cozy with calming music.
  • Teen years) You get out of the car still feeling lazy and see the first huge hill. It looks insurmountable and you have to psyche yourself up.
  • Twenties) You’ve made it up the first hill and now you can see the long winding trail ahead. It’s a little exciting and you are catching your breath but you don’t have a map and the terrain is still unfamiliar. You made it out of the bubble of your previous life and are ready to explore by yourself. You are high above the power lines now, the view is gorgeous and inspiring. You feel on top of the world. You’re more scared how you don’t see any bees than you are scared of a bee sting.
  • Thirties-Fifties) You are now in the swing of walking such that your legs keep moving without conscious effort. Your knees hurt but you’re cruizing on the path and it’s nice and sunny out. You hear a rare frog chorus but you’re also bummed you can’t listen to music on this long trek, win some lose some I guess.
  • Sixties-Eighties) You finally see the woodpecker you knew you heard earlier! Now your blisters actually hurt and that last leg of the trail was supposed to be .4 miles but is taking forever… you think back and wonder if you made a wrong turn. You made a little one, but it was inconsequential. Your phone is dying but your powering through so that you can text your partner that you finished safely and still have juice to navigate to the freeway entrance.
  • Eighties-Nineties) You made it back to your car with 2% phone battery to spare! You barely even feel like you hiked, it more just washed over you. You’re sitting in your cozy seat again headed home to reflect on your pictures, chill, and have a sweet night’s rest.

Life’s a h*ke n then you die so let’s not forget to scope those views proper.

<3 Nan