Time Spent in Nature

 

Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed or out-of-sorts, I find that the best thing for me to feel better is time spent in nature. I’ve always loved to just head out on the trails to be surrounded by nothing man-made. From the time I was a little girl, me and my little black Dog, Francie would hike out into the woods behind our house and into the pastures and fields of the farms beyond. When my family would go camping, as soon as we we’re settled in, my dog and I would head out into the forest. I’d lose myself for hours, but I never got lost.

In nature all my modern day troubles disappear, replaced by wonderfully simple concerns, like which direction to take, when to stop for a snack or drink of water, and when to head back home. If only every day life were like that, we’d all have much less stress in our lives, and be much happier, too. Oh well. At least there is always nature to come back to.

This past Sunday, my twin sons and I decided to head up to Santa Fe to do some hiking and letterboxing.

We enjoyed an adventurous hike beside the Sante Fe Southern Railroad tracks, looking for a letterbox.

 

We were hoping to see a train pass by, but we were there at the wrong time.

Afterwards we headed into historic downtown Santa Fe to locate another letterbox. We had a lot of fun with that box and it was a great stamp, too. And we always enjoy visiting downtown Santa Fe. So much to see and lots of beauty, too.

Then we drove up into the canyon beside the Santa Fe River. There was some beautiful architecture beside the road, and some unique gates, too.

We spent the day exploring, hiking and letterboxing all throughout the Nature Conservancy Trails, The Audubon Society Trails, and The Dale Ball Trail System. What a great time!

 

All in all we hiked between 8-10 miles, and on the Dale Ball Trails we climbed up 500 feet in elevation!

For me that is a huge deal because it’s been less than 2 years since my ACL Replacement Knee Surgery and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to hike trails like this one again.

The Dale Ball Trail section we hiked was less than a mile long but climbed up quickly 500 feet to just below 8,000 ft.!! It was seriously steep with only a few switch backs to get some relief. But at the top, not only was there a letterbox waiting for us, but also stunningly beautiful views all the way across Santa Fe and back down to Albuquerque. We were up there in the evening, so we we’re also able to enjoy the beautiful sunset, before scurrying back down the slippery steep trails to our car before it got completely dark. That hike was so challenging, but even more rewarding and satisfying knowing we accomplished our goal. Our next goal is to climb back up the Dale Ball Trail System and hike to Picacho Peak, at almost 10,000ft, where there are also two more letterboxes. And we want to carve a new stamp and place a letterbox of our own somewhere along the way, too.

I left my camera back at the car because I didn’t want to carry too much with my hands using my trekking poles. And we wanted to get up there and back down quickly, so I knew there wouldn’t be much time for photos. But I wish I could have taken a couple photos of those gorgeous sunsets. wow.

What is even more amazing about our Dale Ball hike is that it was our last hike of the day. We had already been hiking, exploring and letterboxing for most of the day in the canyon trails below and had logged at least 6 miles on those trails.

We enjoyed the Nature Conservancy Trails and all the cozy, narrow trails and comfy benches tucked away under the trees, with views of a large pond and the wetlands.

We found a letterbox there, but when we got home and logged in our finds on Atlas Quest and Letterboxing.com, we discovered that there are two more letterboxes in the area, so it looks like we’ll need to go back to that area again, to do some more hiking and letterboxing.

We had a great time exploring the Audubon Trails, too. I was enchanted with the beginning of the trail, where we walked up a steep, winding section of stone stairs and then at the top had to walk over a little wooden bridge crossing a babbling brook. It’s not typical to walk uphill to cross a creek, so that was a nice surprise.

We hiked all of the Audubon trails, including the trail into the boulder filled, dark and mysterious Bear Canyon. It was so lush and green and quiet. It felt too sacred for speaking, except in hushed tones. We also enjoyed listening for and locating the various birds that live in the canyon, too.

At one point the trail forced us to scramble up and over a huge pink granite boulder, and then not far away we discovered our letterbox, “La Piedra Rosa”. The pink boulder made a perfect place to sit while we stamped in our find.

The rest of the Bear Canyon Trail continued on into Wilderness and is unimproved, but I hope we can go back one day to hike further.

Do you enjoy spending time out in nature, taking a hike, fishing, camping, or just listening to the birds in your backyard?