Growing is Forever

The cinematography, the landscape, the words of this video are all incredible. All make me yearn for the northern coast of California.



Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.




A very long time ago, there were no groves because everywhere was a grove with no roads to bisect and no people to erect stones and fences and bridges. The trees were very, very young and had much living ahead of them. The enormity of their lifespan loomed in wooly mists around them, so they stretched out their root fingers and wrapped them around each others’, intertwining and holding very tight. The ferns found pockets of root fingers where they could nestle in and the moss stretched itself out over the soil and everything became very soft. The trees grew and made patterns of light and dark on the ground and the vines swirled in to trace the patterns. Spotted spiders moved back and forth and up and down, making nets to catch the mist, and the mist would linger on the nets in drops that cupped the light. It was very quiet all the time because the trees needed to focus on their lives. It is not easy to grow so much, for so long. Some trees became tired and lay down on the soft ground; others leaned and rested their tops on another. Growing is forever, they whispered, and when one tree had to stop, another would grow out of it and reach very high into the grey and gold sky.

"Growing is forever," they whispered.
- Kallie Markle

we are all connected

[deGrasse Tyson]
We are all connected;
To each other, biologically
To the earth, chemically
To the rest of the universe atomically

[Feynman]
I think nature's imagination
Is so much greater than man's
She's never going to let us relax

[Sagan]
We live in an in-between universe
Where things change all right
But according to patterns, rules,
Or as we call them, laws of nature

[Nye]
I'm this guy standing on a planet
Really I'm just a speck
Compared with a star, the planet is just another speck
To think about all of this
To think about the vast emptiness of space
There's billions and billions of stars
Billions and billions of specks

[Sagan]
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it
But the way those atoms are put together
The cosmos is also within us
We're made of star stuff
We are a way for the cosmos to know itself

Across the sea of space
The stars are other suns
We have traveled this way before
And there is much to be learned

I find it elevating and exhilarating
To discover that we live in a universe
Which permits the evolution of molecular machines
As intricate and subtle as we

[deGrasse Tyson]
I know that the molecules in my body are traceable
To phenomena in the cosmos
That makes me want to grab people in the street
And say, have you heard this??

(Richard Feynman on hand drums and chanting)

[Feynman]
There's this tremendous mess
Of waves all over in space
Which is the light bouncing around the room
And going from one thing to the other

And it's all really there
But you gotta stop and think about it
About the complexity to really get the pleasure
And it's all really there
The inconceivable nature of nature

the New Nature Movement

"This new nature movement - it calls for breaking down the silos of environmentalism and conservation and civil rights movements and feminism. It calls for a movement that brings us all together. Because at the end of the day if we're not connected to each other we're not connected to our world and we're not connected to ourselves."

Wild Geese

Having a whole bunch of pictures yet to post from the mtns, I feel a bit guilty updating with anything but; however, the geese honking out my window makes me think of this poem every day (sometimes two or three times a day).

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over, announcing your place in the family of things.

---Mary Oliver

last morning

Last morning in the park. I had spent some time debating where my last hike would be; I ended up decided to go somewhere new, cross off a few more miles on my map, rather than visit an old favorite.
The fog hung low that morning and clouds were racing in over the Divide; looks like a wet one.

Low-hanging clouds in Moraine Park

In Moraine Park, looking towards the Divide.
These strange clouds were swirling quickly in the deep valley.

A familiar scene: Hallett Peak and Flattop Mtn from Bear Lake.
Notice the dark clouds coming in

Mist over Bear Lake

Bear Lake

Nymph Lake

Dream Lake, just after the Haiyaha Junction.
Just up the path I was started by a large bull elk, thrashing amongst the trees.
Needless to say, I gave him plenty of time to move on.

Nearing the rocky shore of Lake Haiyaha

Lake Haiyaha

By this point the rain was coming down;
the clouds and the rain seemed perfectly fitting for  the hike.

I extended this looped hike a bit by visiting Mills Lake one last night. The lighting wasn't terribly flattering for photos but it was quite fulfilling for the soul.

Rocky Mountain National Park: Where my love for nature and solitude were re-awoken and where my desire to use my legs as much as possible began.

early morning at Sprague

East Inlet

Just a few days left in the park and Kristen and I headed to the west side to check out a couple of the "wetter, better" trails. 

We would up hiking about 11miles, roundtrip, to Lone Pine Lake. By the time we made it to the lake, the weather turned a bit nasty and we headed back, making it back into town just in time for the rain clouds to let loose.

We started the morning off with the sighting of 5 moose!
Three of which were young calves, staying close to their mother.

Into the woods where we saw three more moose. But these guys were big bulls, with huge racks. Picture-taking was less of a priority than not-getting-gored-by-moose; hence no pictures.

East Meadow

Near the Gray Jay group campsite

View from the Gray Jay group campsite

Lone Pine Lake, where once a lone pine stood. 

5.5 miles in and somehow Kristen manages to get cell phone service.

On the trail back we spotted a couple looking out towards the river, pointing at something...

Another moose!

A glorious west side day, indeed.

Flattop Mtn

After putting it off and putting it off, I finally woke up early, bound and determined to reach the peak of Flattop Mtn - 4.3miles up with almost 3,000ft in elevation gained. 

Bear Lake - looking towards Hallett Peak on the left and  Flattop Mtn on the right

Looking down towards Dream Lake

Looking out towards Bierstadt Lake (left) and Sprague Lake (right)

Looking up towards Hallett, nearly above treeline.

Looking down towards Emerald Lake

Getting closer!

Ptarmigan!

Might not look so bad, but with the cold and the wind this part of the trail kicked my butt

Next time: making the journey across the Divide to Grand Lake

In between Flattop and Hallett, looking down towards Dream and Sprague Lake

Looking at the peak of Hallett, with Tyndall Glacier in the foreground

Arctic Gentians - a sure sign that summer is nearly over

Arctic Gentian

Paintbrush still blooming

Looking towards Mills Lake and Long's Peak

a late night/early morning

Bridal Veil Falls

If you want to see Bridal Veil Falls, be prepared to wake up early or start late. From the Cow Creek Trailhead the falls are a relatively easy 3miles in. However, parking is very limited (7-10spaces) and fills up fast. I did this after work one night with a couple of coworkers. I had talked to another Ranger and he said he saw his one and only mtn lion at dusk on this trail. 

Needless to say I was a bit paranoid. 

The trail remains fairly open for much of the hike before entering a canopied marsh.

First glimpses of Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil Falls