The Labyrinth

It did seem rather mystical. We were greeted by 2 bald eagles, soaring and dipping just overhead. The trails initially seemed aimless, wandering here there and everywhere. But we stuck to them and then realized their hidden logic.

We descended into oak groves teeming with wintering chickadees and nuthatches and ascended to high, barren hillsides supporting columnar basalt edifices made by earth, not man.We startled some deer on a distant hillside. Flinchy creatures that they are, they took off the moment we were detected. The funny thing was, they stuck to the manmade footpath. Deer are weird like that...

When we stopped for lunch, I sat upon a log with a thick cushion of moss. It was very soft and comfortable.

We encountered vigorous streams and creeks, all easily crossed. The most frightening moment was when we traversed a hill on a very narrow footpath (10"?) with a steep, uninterrupted 500' drop to our left. I have a fear of heights that has increased over the years, and though my companions were quite happy to walk along as homo sapiens, I hobbled and gimped, leaning into the hill and supporting myself with my left hand, clinging to the up-hill side of the incline, inching along like an orangutan with a stroke. Me so pretty.

We found several art installations consisting of animal bones along the trail. At first they seemed disturbing, but I quickly realized they were both beautiful and ruthless. To whomever took the time to craft them, I say "Thank you".