After yesterdays hike through O’Melveny Park, California, I have a new found respect for the mountains and the desert. Of course I understand that we are always at the mercy of nature, but I found myself really tracking my paths while hiking. As gorgeous and as breath taking as the trails through these mountains were; I realize that one wrong turn or encounter with a wild animal could turn a peaceful hike into a potentially dangerous situation. Nonetheless, it was a peaceful hike indeed. To be able to see the vast acres spanned across the mountains is liberating in a way.
There were parts of the trail where you could see that there had recently been a brush fire. And yet there was nothing but shrubbery growing back through the ashes. Trees that seemed destroyed by the fire were blooming on the few branches that were spared by the blaze. I found a stream along the trail that flowed between where the earth had cracked and split in two. And it amazed me that, water, flowed in this dry desert-like climate. A reminder of how nature always finds a way to re-grow and sustain its balance.
Dusty Paws Wander 