Nature High

In the car, it’s 0500, days of trail in my head. 

Escaping the real world for a week, I had no trouble getting out of bed.

We stop by the country store, biscuits and gravy down

Mom drops me off at the trailhead, I’m thrilled to get out of town.

I do a last gear check, strap fifty-five pounds of gear to my hips and back.

Phone, first aid kit, canteens and the signature backpack.

I’m on the river in ten minutes, on my left, six hundred foot tall cliffs touching the sky 

A nature overdose beats any drug high.

Nature and the outdoors is my addiction and lifestyle.

Every year, I spend thousands of dollars to live like a hobo, and it’s all worthwhile. 

I look ahead at the trail and I reflect on life, nature, faith, not about the next fifty-nine miles.

It really is true, what they say,

It’s not about the destination, it is all about the way.

What I remember is the nights under the beautiful stars, not the last day.

I can tell you story after story of backpacking, not so much about leaving the trails behind. 

I know no better place than God’s Creation to find 

Comfort and peace in my heart and in my mind.

I remember hiking through the lava fields, black and stark;

I left no trace, nature was the one that made a mark. 

And continues to do so, from zero elevation at the sea to thousands of feet in beautiful Jefferson Park. 

I can look north to Mount Rainier, south to Mount Shasta, where California meets the sky,

And all I can do is smile from the triumph and the nature high. 

All good things, though, come to an end

Back to work at Walmart of Bend. 

I don’t like leaving behind the trail,

But I still depart with a smile, for I know it’s not a permanent farewell.

Count on me returning to the embrace of the great outdoors,

For wilderness and the wild, I am yours.