“Remember how long you’ve been putting this off, how many extensions the gods gave you, and you didn’t use them. At some point you have to recognize what the world it is that you belong to; what power rules it and from what source you spring; that there is a limit to the time assigned you, and if you don’t use it to free yourself it will be gone and will never return.”
Marcus Aurelius
Summer is definitely wrapping up here in the Tetons. Not only is it Labor Day – the unofficial end to summer – the mornings are darker and crisper, and the kids return to school tomorrow. I still have some hikes to do, and I now feel like I am running out of time, so despite the absolute deluge outside, I need to suck it up and go for a walk.
This is another trail that I have been putting off for most of the summer. Whenever I think of doing it, I always seem to come up with an excuse, but no more excuses – today’s the day. I decided to treat myself to a D.O.G. burrito this morning before heading up to the trail. I haven’t had one in a while, and given the dreary, cool, rainy day a hot spicy cheesy filling burrito seemed like the way to go. Burrito in hand, I battled the weirdly heavy traffic and headed north. There are a couple of ways to access this trail, but I decided for the trailhead off Pacific Creek Road.
It was actively raining when I got out of my truck, so went straight to rain gear. I also decided on hiking boots given the wet weather – boots that I haven’t hiked in for at least 5 years. The good news is that throughout the hike, my feet were dry. The bad news is that I developed two Mt.Vesuvius sized blisters, one on each heel.
I started up the trail, in the rain, alone in bear country. The trail was pleasant enough, and before long, I had an elevated view of Emma Matilda Lake. I was under a thick blanket of clouds obscuring any other potential view of anything else. Like many trails I have been on this summer, this one was fairly overgrown with grass and willow, and I was intent on making enough noise that I wouldn’t be a snack for any lurking apex predators.
I took a counter-clockwise route around the lake, and at times, enjoyed some nice although somewhat unremarkable views of both Emma Matilda and Jackson Lakes. Fortunately, there were no mosquitos, and the only animal of note that I saw was an owl which was pretty cool. About halfway through the hike, I tried to doctor up my blisters with 19 year-old Band-Aids, but that didn’t work at all. I just got used to and accepted the discomfort and continued onward.
Overall, this was a very unremarkable walk in the rain. I saw no one and had plenty of time with my own thoughts. I used the time to meditate on not putting things off, and just getting stuff done. It’s so easy for me to delay things. I’m a great procrastinator, and I think sometimes, I need a time crunch in order to get things accomplished. That’s probably okay for work-related tasks, but in terms of living, not a great strategy. The problem is that none of us know how much time we have left, but it seems infinite, so we take it for granted. The best thing we can do is take the hike, make the call, read the book, go fishing, spend time with family, and do all of the things that we want to do today.
Mileage – 10.13 miles
Time –3 hours, 34 minutes
Animals – one owl
People – zero