Post #34 - September 18, 2018
This past Saturday, Sept 15th, I hiked up Mt. Yale. It was a beautiful Indian summer day. Not a cloud in the sky. I never put on gloves, a jacket, a stocking cap or neck gator. Un freakin believable for Sept 15th or almost any day of the year. On the hike up when I was still on the CT, I passed a couple of guys. The 1st guy was older - maybe in his 60s? The 2nd guy was a bit younger and was a stronger hiker, or so it seemed, but he was going slower for the other guy. As I got closer to the 2nd guy, he stepped off of the trail to let me go by. I said thank you and kept going. I tend not to stop and chat with people as I am very goal oriented.....especially early on in a hike. As I went by, he said, didn't we pass you a little bit ago? I said no, it wasn't me. And he said oh...must've been someone else in a white shirt. He had an accent and I'm not sure where he was from. I kept going and the further up the trail I went, the more I wished I had stopped and asked him where he was from. I was sorta beating myself up for being so goal oriented and unwilling to stop for a minute or two to talk to him. I consoled myself that I would be able to ask him when I saw him on Mt. Yale later in the day.
Well, I never saw them again. They may not have had Mt. Yale as their goal....maybe they were doing a CT hike? Not sure. But on the way down when I was back on the CT, I came upon another older gentleman. He was also hiking down. I announced myself and he let me go by. I'm not sure how the conversation started, but I think maybe it was weather related, because it was so darn stellar and beautiful. He asked me what I had done that day and I told him I had been to the top of Yale He asked me where I was from and I asked where he was from...He was from Boulder. He told me that he was in BV with 10 of his college friends, that this was an annual event and had been for over 30 years. He told me he was 73, moved to Boulder after serving in the military. He said the rest of his friends had hiked for awhile, but they wanted to turn around, so he gave his car keys to someone, (they had 2 cars), so they could all drive back to the AirBnB they had rented by Princeton Hot Springs. He asked me if he could get a ride back to BV with me and I said of course. Anyway, we hiked the last mile or so to the TH together. He fell at one point, blooded his shin. I felt bad because he was trying to keep up with me, and I was already going slower than usual. We got to my car, loaded up and headed into BV. He was a super nice guy, married with 3 grown kids. When we got to Hwy 24 and Main in BV, I turned right and headed south to take Hwy 285 back to Denver. When I got close to the intersection, he said you can drop me off here. And I said, how are you going to get to your house? And he said, he would hitchhike. I'm like....oh gosh no. So, I drove him to the house where they all were staying just down the road from the hot springs. I'm sure he would've been fine hitchhiking, but who knows when he would've caught a ride and then how many people were actually driving to the hot springs? It's a ways up the road from Hwy 24. I was happy to take him and he was really appreciative. He was such a nice person - we had a great conversation and when I dropped him off, he said if you are ever in Boulder and need anything, let me know. I know he was sincere. Helping him really made my day. I was grateful for the opportunity to help, as I felt I had missed out on meeting someone earlier that day. Even if it would've been a brief conversation. The need for connection is more prevalent in my life as I mainly work from home. I'm somewhat isolated. I'm glad for this brief encounter with a complete stranger.
I saw an itty bitty bull snake on Green Mountain a couple of weeks ago. Here's it's totem.
http://www.spiritanimal.info/snake-spirit-animal/
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