Birthday Discoveries

A proper new year begins on a birthday more so than on January first, don’t you think? Often I find myself reviewing the previous year and pondering the next one more when my age changes than when it’s time to tack another number onto last year’s date. When a birthday rounds the corner, I make way for something meaningful, eager to have the additional year translate into wisdom and not just wrinkles.

So it was last Friday morning as I made my way to the mountains for a solitary hike. Beautiful morning, just enough breeze to promise a cooler day, Amber Grace panting and pacing in the back of the car anxious to hit the trail. A friend had recommended Golden Gate Canyon State Park, not 30 minutes away. I thought I knew where it was, but jotted down MapQuest directions just in case.

Despite my hands-free earphone, an early morning birthday call was apparently enough to easily disorient me. Well, that and my navigational skills are frequently challenged. Somehow I missed my turn. Soon after I lost the call while going through a high country tunnel, I realized I was no longer on the right road.

Winding my way up the mountains, about all I could be sure of was that the day was beautiful. With my windows down, the air felt exhilarating. A flash of yellow and red flew directly in front of my car (what bird was that?!) challenging me to keep careful eyes on the road. Maybe I would just find a trailhead on this route for a hike, I thought. Does it really matter if I make it to my original destination? My friend’s description of Golden Gate Canyon lured me on and I kept puttering along.

I considered how my plans for a birthday hike could be thwarted by my loss of direction. How often in my life have I planned on going down one path and ended up somewhere else entirely? Does it matter if my destination changes? When I relax and accept whatever experience is presenting itself with an openness to arrive at a different place than where I originally intended or at a later time, life takes on such a different mood.

After a stop for directions, a detour through Black Hawk, and a longer than expected route, I arrived at the park, and per the ranger was still the first person to purchase a hiking pass that day. Amber and I were both anxious to hit dirt, feeling magic in the morning.

A babbling Colorado stream greeted us. Bossy chatty wrens discouraged us from getting too close to their nest. A breathtaking variety of mountain wildflowers were stretching toward the sun. Butterflies appeared and a busy buzz of other nectar-seeking insects joined the morning bird chorus. Flowers dazzled me with showy interior designs and fleshy mushrooms popped up before my eyes like rabbits out of the magician’s hat.

Later research informed me that I had spotted a Fly Agaric, a spotted magic mushroom once used by the Vikings for intoxication and by others as fly poison. It is also associated with fairies and gnomes (certainly acceptable hiking companions) and also considered a good luck charm much like a four leaf clover. What a good birthday discovery, eh? Other sleek and enticing varieties spotted were gray Grisettes and I think some Russula, an orange poisonous ‘shroom also referred to as ‘the sickener.’

I’m so accustomed to looking up for birds I was surprised but well rewarded to find myself hiking with eyes close to the ground. At least I didn’t trip as much as when my eyes are scanning trees and brush for birds. Ahh, hiking alone one becomes more carefully observant of what nature has to reveal. Once again, however, I began to wonder where I was headed, then reminded myself it was just fine to end up wherever I landed. Aspen eyes watched me carefully and soon the trail opened onto a delicious meadow. Amber peered into the remains of old John Frazier’s log cabin constructed in the late 1800s (so explained by a sign), disappointed to find no one home.

Returning to the trailhead, the gifts of the day continued to present themselves. Both because of and despite my plans, the day had unfolded delightfully in its own quirky way.

(all photos taken on this day's hike)