Rest,
Restore,
Relax into a deep sleep as we make our way into the mountain landscape.
Come with me as we embark on an adventure of beauty and tranquility.
You've been here many times before,
Feeling so comfortable and at ease.
This trail,
This path is so familiar.
At the trailhead,
You recognize the little footbridge that you take every single time you go on this trail.
Looking off into the far distance,
You can see the winding trail,
The switchbacks leading up towards the buccaboos,
Where you've once visited this place before,
All too familiar.
But today,
It just feels a little bit different.
We place our packs onto our backs,
We take a nice,
Slow,
Deep breath in,
And exhale completely.
With hiking poles in hand,
We start to climb our way up,
Off into the vast distance.
Each and every gradual step that we take,
We know that we're getting closer to our destination.
As we walk across different types of terrain,
Little footpaths,
Little stone paths,
Moss and trees and dense forests all around us,
We wind our way through boulder fields,
Across little creeks and trickling water,
See all the different colors of the rocks,
Purples,
Deep greens,
Maroons,
Clay-like colors,
All these different natural colors.
So astonishing.
We admire the different rock formations,
The tall grass all around us,
Different types of shrubs,
Juniper,
Rose hips.
The vegetation is all-encompassing,
Surrounding us with its beauty,
Aster,
Rare,
Small little wild strawberries,
Raspberries,
Buffalo berries,
Juniper,
Sierro,
Chamomile along the trail.
We admire each and every step,
Taking deep and slow breaths,
Feeling the anticipation,
The excitement,
While feeling grounded and secure.
This place is so familiar.
Each and every single time you come here,
There's always something new to look at.
I can't help but admire the landscape,
The beautiful glacier,
The peaks,
The spirals,
We're mesmerized and captured into this landscape.
We find ourselves at this once-sturdy ladder,
Taking our time as we climb up the ladder,
Each and every step,
Moving so gracefully and so easefully as we reach the plateau and traverse across using secure chains that are tightly bolted into the rock,
Winding our way up,
Step by step,
So effortlessly,
Almost like you have no pack on at all.
Coming to the next flat,
Open area,
We continue on,
On our journey,
On our hike,
Up towards the Conrad Cain Hut,
Each and every step,
We become closer and closer,
Crossing bridges,
Moving through the landscape with ease,
Admiring all the beauty around us,
Taking notice of the valleys,
The deep,
Deep valleys,
The ridgelines,
The soaring,
Beautiful ridgelines,
Gradually making our way up,
Step by step,
Slow and steady.
We come to a fork in the road where we could go one kilometer towards the Appleby Base Camp for all the climbers,
Or we could go left towards the Conrad Cain Hut,
Or just pass the Conrad Cain Hut towards the Boulder Base Camp.
For tonight,
Our destination is the Boulder Base Camp.
So we make our way past the beautiful emerald green hut,
Almost farm-like shape.
We continue on down towards the Boulder Base Camp.
Slowly and carefully maneuvering through the boulder field,
Gracefully,
Where we approach the site that comes to our preferences,
A vast view of the valley below,
360 degrees,
Mountain landscape,
Creeks,
Dense forests,
And even the glacier we can see from this vantage point.
We begin to set up camp.
Each of us have our own tent.
By the time that we reach our destination and set up our tent,
It's close to dinnertime.
The simplicity of life,
Only worrying about what we have to do next,
How we're going to make our food.
We start to boil some water,
And these freeze-dried food only use water.
You start to turn the kettle on,
And use your stove to boil the water.
We just sit and relax.
We take in the sounds,
The rushing water that's nearby,
The sound of the trees whispering in the wind,
The birds.
It's so peaceful here.
You feel so content.
Not a care in the world.
The water is ready.
Pour that hot water into the pouches.
We sit and we wait.
Just taking in everything around you,
Feeling so grounded,
So stable,
So reassured.
We sit and we eat.
Feeling so satisfied with the meal that we've been eating.
Just here in the moment.
Just here in the now.
After dinner,
We decide to go for a little walk.
Walking down towards the glacier,
As it's only 15 minutes away.
We take our time.
Just feeling so fluid,
So expansive.
So relaxed.
Now we can see the glacier.
We take a few steps up and up,
Climbing so gently,
So effortlessly,
Up on the ridge.
We can look down,
Down towards the glacier,
Marvel in its beauty,
Strength,
Encompassed by iciness,
Coldness,
The breeze that's being pushed up against the ridge,
Falling onto our faces.
Just marveling at all.
And I gently look past your shoulder and I see a little movement.
And we slowly turn and we see a mountain goat in all its splendor,
So strong,
So sturdy,
So powerful,
So magnificent.
We take it all in.
The goat stops and stares,
Curiosity,
Wondering what we are doing there.
Almost with a smirk,
The goat saunters off,
Down into the boulder field,
So strength and beauty.
That moment felt so special,
So transformative,
So invigorating.
And we feel satisfied.
Our little journey,
We start to make our way back down towards the base camp.
As it's starting to get late and we're feeling ready to start to get ready for bed.
And as we approach our tent,
We do everything that we need in order to prepare ourselves for peaceful slumber.
Brushing our faces in the creek that's nearby,
Brushing our teeth,
Flossing our teeth,
Getting prepared.
All comfortable and snuggled into our sleeping bags.
You enter your tent,
I enter mine.
Feeling so cozy and warm,
But not too warm,
Just right.
The cool air around us,
The night.
We peek outside of our tent and it's a clear night,
No light pollution,
Beautiful stars all around us,
Twinkling in the sky.
Every once in a while we see a shooting star.
And you start to turn off your light,
Your headlamp.
I turn off my lantern,
We say goodnight.
I wish you a good sleep and sweet dreams.
And you slowly start to drift,
Feeling the tug and the pull,
Slowly winding down,
Feeling that gentle pull.
Just following it down as you start to allow yourself to let go,
Let go of the day,
Just feeling so peaceful and content,
So satisfied.
Just letting go,
Releasing everything that you were holding onto,
Just following the tug down,
Just feeling so good.
Allowing your body to heal as you sleep.
All the bones,
The tissue,
All the cells in your body are being restored,
Revitalized,
Rejuvenated.
Each and every breath that you take,
Your body is being revitalized.
Each and every breath that you take,
You feel so good and restored.
The cells in your body are rejuvenating and you just feel so good.
And you just allow this to happen.
You love having a healthy body,
You love feeling great,
You love the energy that it gives you for each and every single day.
So you just follow the tug,
Just feeling so good,
Going deeper and deeper into a slumbering sleep,
Like a leaf falling down,
Slow and gracefully.
Allowing yourself to slip into a deeper sleep,
Just letting go now.
Allow yourself just to let go and sleep.
