Hiking with Heidi

Hike Details: Elevation range - from about 2300' down to 1300' Location - from Eastbound I-80, take the Colfax exit (135), turn left at the stop sign to get on to the frontage road called North Canyon Way, drive .6 mile to the parking lot on the left. Bathrooms: Yes, a pit toilet (better than nothing, just barely) Mileage - 7.5 miles roundtrip Hiking time - 4 hours (including stop for lunch)

I love Ted talks because they expose me to new ideas and concepts that I might never have considered or might never have thought interesting or appealing. I love trees, of course, and this video just makes me love them even more. Wow, so many fascinating things to learn about trees and their inter-connectedness! And there's so much symbolism in that and how it relates to us as human beings. I promise this 18 minutes will be worth your time (it might even make you wanna go hug a tree): Suzanne Simard - How Trees Talk to Each Other Here are just a few of the dozens of tree pictures I've taken.  And this one is probably one of my favorites and this Ted talk made me think of it. It's like these two trees are holding on to each other as if to say, "It's okay, friend, I'm here!" :) Let's be more like trees, let's take care of each other, support each other and hold each other up.

Hike Details: Elevation -5700 - 6900 ft. Location - I-80 at Rainbow Bridge exit Mileage - 6 miles round trip Hiking time - 4 hours Route - Take either the Big Bend or Rainbow Bridge exit off of I-80, the trailhead parking (with a bathroom, bonus!) is on the frontage road between those two exits and the trailhead is across the street. Weather -Not too warm, not too cold, a little overcast, breezy at the top. Let's get started! So many interesting trees   Check out all these cool roots...  And maybe it's just me, but I think it looks like the tree on the left is hugging the other tree, like he's saying, "It's okay, buddy, I'm here for you." :) And just in case, we'll hug the tree too. :) Lots of cairns to point the way as we scrambled over granite boulders.    I was reminded of the story from the Old Testament about Samuel placing the "Ebenezer" (or stone of help) as a...