The Wild Dog Blog

Tag: hiking

  • Renewal

    Over a decade ago in Bastrop, Texas, high winds, downed power lines, and drought conditions caused the most destructive fire in state history. It burned 34,000 acres of land in 55 days. The pine forests in and around Bastrop State Park are still recovering. 

    This past January, I ran my first 100K ultramarathon in Bastrop State Park and got to see first hand the charred landscape that was reminiscent of the elephant graveyard in “The Lion King.” But I also got to see the start of new growth – young pine trees scattered throughout the park, their evergreen pine needles standing out in sharp contrast to blackened stumps and the golden brown trail. It was a beautiful and inspiring place to explore for 62 miles.

    Forest or human, nothing and no one is immune to the cycle of degeneration and regeneration. I’m thankful to the forests that show us how it’s done and remind us of our own capacity for renewal.

  • Acadia National Park – Bar Harbor, Maine

    Is there a word for the feeling you get when you’re in the presence of something that stood long before you, and will still be standing long after you?

    Reverence, wonder, humility…

    This is where my thoughts went as I hiked beneath the spiraling pines that were likely centuries old and had bark the color of the wood in my grandparents’ house and an aroma that was just as familiar and comforting.

    This is where my thoughts went as I looked up at the big, open faced boulders and never ending rock gardens, laying my hands on the millions of years of mountain history as we scrambled over the stony tangles and edged closer to each summit.

    Magnificence formed, and still forming, over an unfathomable span of time – and somehow we, mere humans, find ourselves in the middle of it all.