Secret Trails

Hands on thighs I push onward...desperate to see the view from the top.

W O N D E R

I wonder what is up there.  I wonder what views await me.  I wonder how much further it is to the top.

I can see the light breaking through the canopy now.  More light.  Less darkness.  I can feel it.  I'm so close.

Secret trails.  

'Be careful...  It's steep...  It's slippery...  Not really a trail yet...  Watch for a hard right off a flat spot...  It's about 10k to the lake...  Are you alone?'  Turn off volume...hide phone in pack...

Alone.  

Just me and a few squirrels.  Just me and the sound of my feet running over thick green moss.  Just me and my thoughts flowing through a beautiful silence.  



I love finding new trails.  Secret trails are even better.  Trails in progress, not yet finished, but somehow discovered through cryptic whispers, inside tips or just sheer luck.  The first time is always the best.  Once they are released to the masses, new trails will provide immesurable joy to riders on two wheels, runners in sneakers and hikers in boots.  

Secret trails never remain secret for very long.

But for today, this trail seems to exist for no one but me.  It's not really a 'trail' yet, but my eyes easily seek and find the 'route'.  Brush cuts from a saw.  Long flags flowing in the breeze.  The occasional cairn marking the way.  The moss is undisturbed.  The singletrack is yet to come.

This will be a grand trail soon enough.  One destined to provide many epic adventures. Eventually it will climb all the way to the spine of the Wild Isle, high above.  Inviting searing quads and sweaty faces from around the island, around the country and around the world to come play on it.  I feel grateful to know it today and to know the builder who has dedicated his year to it's creation.

One day, very soon, I'm sure you will know of it too.

Happy Trails:)
SS