Hill Top
Yesterday I walked up a hill in daylight and down again in the dark. Two miles in. Two miles out. I wanted to see a sunset from the top of the hill overlooking the Pedernales river valley and the Hill Country out west. It’s in Pedernales Falls State Park. It is a nice view with an elevation of about 1,100 feet. The trail is an old ranch road, so it is well marked, and I had no problems coming down in the dark. A waxing gibbous moon at about 75% full shed plenty of light and cast nice shadows. I had a flashlight but only turned it on twice.
I suppose in the old days I might not have wanted to be on foot in the woods at night since there might have been bears or cougars. But now there are raccoons, skunks, and possums. The wildlife these days has a lot more to fear from me than I from them. None of them showed up on my walk either. And there was nary a snake. A little disappointing on both counts. I would have enjoyed some sort of encounter. But it was just me, and the moon and Jupiter and Saturn. A nice trio to be sure, but hardly exciting.
I was a little trepidatious about coming out after dark. But I’ve walked enough predawn and after dark hunting trails in my youth and I figured this wouldn’t be that much different. I was right. And now I’m going to do more solitary hiking because, why not. It felt good being alone in the woods. Although, I have to confess, old habits die hard. And for most of my life I’ve felt that beauty shared was almost always better. But this is where I am. A lone walker in the woods. So, let’s see where the trails lead.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale