Five Hours in a Mountainous Paradise

Today, I am hiking in the mountains of Kentucky and it is SO beautiful out here! The feeling of absolute freedom is like nothing I have ever experienced. Hiking for hours endlessly upward was like climbing a natural staircase into Heaven itself, with each step hammering my soul into a perfect resolve to better my life. I am grateful that I found a strong branch to walk with, it became a great help on my ascension of the rocky, wooded environment.

We were a party of 6. @matt-a, @kotturinn, @robrigo, and myself, along with another friend and Goo, our fearless leader. We blazed the trails and cut through the brush, onward and up this wondrous geography which was entirely new to me. We moved through nearly one thousand feet of elevation, collected and filtered stream water, and prepared ourselves for the joyous trial we will be undertaking in two days.

This is Goo. This tiny dog is the very essence of the word "agility." Little Goo blazed the trails right along with us, sometimes even ahead of us, out of view for a short while, then bursting from the brush in full stride. She spent her time frolicking in the forestry, and trying to snag my walking stick.

This picture is a x4 zoom shot of one of the first flat landings we came to, shot from the second landing. Those are trees and that is a path into the wilderness. The scenery here is amazing, like an emerald ocean when viewed from higher elevation. The trees are all similar in size, but rapidly altering topography creates the illusion, at a distance, that some patches of forest are nothing more than shrubbery. Even after hiking for 5 hours there was still more height to climb before we reached any semblance of a peak. The purpose of our outing was to break in some new gear and to prepare for the journey to come.

What was the most beautiful place you have ever been? I want to hear back from you all, so please share! Thanks for taking the time to read this and I will see you all real soon!