Trail Talk – August 2025

AS THIS lonely monologue creeps forth from that quiet place that all trail denizens know so well, our summer doldrums are written largely across the land. We’ve had another spring season when the life-giving waters of the sky were again shut off at the spigot. Unseasonal warmth has decimated the plentiful snowpack of our higher elevations, and the weather wizards again trot forth the tired pony of “persistent drought” upon our fair lands.

Those spectacular blooms of the trailside tarweed that so recently adorned our local slopes have retired, leaving copious quantities of hair-entangling seeds. The wild baby’s breath, not to be outdone, conjures its little Velcro burrs to tag along in our britches and shoelaces, and as evil as can be, especially in our poor dog’s fur. Monkey flowers along the seeps and gullies have retired, their seed pods brittle ghosts of their former glory. And, on our local woodland trails, last year’s madrone leaves have fallen from their lofty heights, now slick on the forest floor, creating an unseasonal skating rink for careless travelers. Soon will follow their large sheets of peeling bark, littering the trail sides as those vibrant orange and purple tree trunks regain the green of new growth. It seems our forests and hillsides are always in transition, as if stasis is simply not in the overall blueprint of the woodlands. Flux for flux’s sake, if you will.

So, to look ahead, as these hot summer days run into other hot summer days, there’s that quiet niggle on the August horizon—we see our days growing shorter. And if the wildfire smoke decides that this is not our year to feel lost in the dingy haze, clear skies still hold promise of stunning stargazing in our dark places so readily accessible in our surrounding area. Warm evenings, sitting in our trailside retreats, conjuring tall tales as we sip the elixir of wild places: this feeds our souls and braces us for the too-soon arrival of a return to a more hectic world.

Our legs always carry us forward, one foot in front of the other, over and over, until we get There. This is the mantra of the walker, the explorer. And we always know that as we travel, each twist in the trail presents a new vista, more to see and wonder about, our persistence rewarded by new horizons. We take heart in our walkabout, knowing that everything behind us is in the past, and our future will come into view as we take each step. It’s with a bit of trepidation, yet comforting all the same, to know that we are progressing along our way, reminding ourselves to be aware of our sense of place, to marvel at each new thing as we constantly scan our surroundings, loving the feeling that perhaps we could simply just keep on keeping on…

So, we invite you, on these warm days, to find a cool morning, or a soon-to-be-cool evening to emulate Coyote, and be “Going There, Making Tracks…”