Travelers' Tales

Let's get one thing straight.  I don't get to travel anywhere near as often as I'd like. People who are extremely well-traveled are the ones that you sometimes hear complaining. They complain about the line at the airport, the minor delay on the runway and the bad food at the hotel restaurant. I'm not one of those people. I'm the one who is so excited to be going somewhere that I can overlook most of the inconveniences that are inevitable when traveling, whether it be waiting in a line, a flat tire or some iffy street food. These can be the very things that can make writing stories about travel interesting.

Blue Lake, near Cascade, Idaho

If I can travel somewhere to hike I'm an even happier camper... I mean traveler. In fact, I have a list of places that I want to travel to in order to hike. Like here and here, as well as a few others. Sometimes I get so busy focusing on these places that are far and away that I forget about what is in my own back yard.


 That was not the case in this case. I have been wanting a road trip and a  hike to Blue Lake (right in my own backyard) since the last time I was there, roughly ten years ago. Yes... it's true, I'm a little slow, and some things take me ten years. I can't name one thing that kept me from returning to this beautiful place, except perhaps the busyness of this thing we call life. Have you ever had a absolutely wonderful day somewhere? With that comes, for me anyway, a little trepidation. Perhaps if I go back to a place where I had a wonderful experience... it won't be that way again, and my memory of it will be ruined. There is the slightest possibility that I am a little bit neurotic, but I'd rather not discuss that...

But return I finally did! Just this past weekend the Captain and I synced up our schedules with some dear friends and headed for the beloved hills.

Though it is a fairly short hike from the trail head to Blue Lake, we made the most of it by climbing to the top of the nearest peak. It was easily the best day I have had in months, and though the experience was vastly different from the last trip there, it was... I'm happy to report, just as good. It was absolutely therapeutic and I could breathe up there. Really breathe. And breathing is very, very important.  Do you hear me?