Nature

One of our best teachers

Little Maev looking back at her brother.

A day in the woods leaves me with much to ponder. While mankind is brilliant at achieving incredible feats, a day spent with Mother Nature in her simplicity teaches us all we need to know about the secrets of life.

Sunday, we joined Rick's nephew Aaron, his wife Heather, and their two little ones, Magnus and Maev, on a four-mile hike near Loon Lake, approximately an hour from our home. This sweet little family has been making tracks throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Heather has recently begun sharing their adventures in her newsletter on Substack, TrailmiX. I fell in love with TrailmiX from the first post. Being part of their latest adventure this past weekend was great fun.

We got a late start on Sunday, leaving about 2:00 to head up to the Loon Lake hiking trails, about an hour from home. It was a beautiful, mild day, the promise of autumn in the air, and even the sound of thunder in the distance threatening showers that never came. I absolutely love thunder, and given my recent post here, the rumbling in the distance felt like nature welcoming us to the trail.

According to Heather's post on Monday, the route we selected is 3.88 miles long, has an elevation gain of 446 feet, takes 2 hours and 19 mins to hike, and is a relatively easy trail. The trail leads to a B-17C crash site near Kyburz, California.

The path was shaded for the most part, strewn with wildflowers and ferns, gigantic boulders or "big wok" as Magnus referred to them, a few creek passages, and a lot of downed trees, "bwoken tree."

The kiddies were terrific in their ability to be flexible and go with the flow. There's nothing like a day in the woods with an almost three-year-old amazed by all he sees to remind one of how exquisite nature is.

Magnus leading the way with his adorable walking stick.

Magnus was our leader for a good mile or so, using a walking stick that he picked up somewhere along the way. He was such a trooper making his way, only stopping occasionally to point out a bwoken tree or a big wok.

Little Maev was taking it all in with her sweet blue eyes peeking from her mother's pack.

After about an hour, we arrived at the wreckage, which was sobering. For some reason, I expected a small Cessna. This was no small plane. I can't even imagine what that crash must have sounded like as it was making its way through the trees to its final resting place in the forest.

The B-17C wreckage with a large rootball of a downed tree behind it.

We spent quite some time reading the signposts and inspecting the plane from all angles. After about fifteen minutes, we settled down to have a bite to eat. Magnus repeatedly informed us that the plane was "bwoken," asking his mother to fix it. "Bwoken plane, fix it."

It wasn't lost on me, listening to Magnus, how basic our need is to heal/fix ourselves and others, even inanimate objects.

We are a species of caregivers. It was nice to be reminded of our sweet natures. I have no doubt that animals care as well. Elephants prove that as well as dogs.

After our lunch, we began our climb back out. It wasn't difficult, just a slight incline for most of the trail. As I'm sure Heather was also doing, I started writing this post in my head, recording the mental snapshots that gave me pause.

I came away with two lessons. Number one, always take into account the strength and intelligence of children.

Number two, we all desire to matter… to make a difference. Let me connect the dots…

There were many downed trees in the forest, with colossal root balls upended, a few areas looking almost like a domino effect, perhaps one tree toppling over onto another, causing that tree to fall. Luckily for us, some of those trees fell over the streams that we would not have been able to wade through. Well, I guess we could have, but likely wouldn't have chosen to, given that we weren't prepared for water and had two little ones in tow.

One of my favorite yoga poses is the tree pose. Because of my love for nature and trees, I enjoy considering the strength of our beautiful trees and visualize encompassing that strength as I practice the pose.

To see so many majestic trees downed left me considering their contribution to nature, even after their life has ended. They still serve a purpose. They decompose and add rich nutrients to the soil, enabling new life to continue. And in the area we were hiking, many a tree coincidentally fell right over a stream, providing a means for our tiny tribe to make our way across.

I always say we mimic nature. When our time is done on this earth, we also leave behind our stories, triumphs, and failures to help create the path for our loved ones in future generations to succeed and thrive.