Raptor Ridge

 Things never turn out like we plan them, do they? I was all ready to take off with the other eleven Senior Trailblazers who showed up on this beautiful sunny Thursday, but unfortunately, I locked my car keys into my car by mistake, and with my camera still inside, I reluctantly stayed behind as they all car pooled and headed up to Raptor Ridge. I called Smart Guy, who dressed and quickly drove over to the Senior Center to help me into my car. While I was waiting for him, I figured that since it was such a beautiful day I could drive myself to the trailhead and maybe, just maybe, catch up with them. And that is exactly what I did. The picture above was taken when I first started up the trailhead, with nobody to hurry me along, I was just astounded at all the moss and snapped the picture. (You can click on any of these pictures if you really want to get the full effect.)

I was a half hour behind the others, so I took no breaks and didn't know if I could even catch up with them, much less find the right trail amongst all the others leading off from the Interurban Trail. Fortunately for me, the twists and turns were all well marked, and when I saw a couple of runners coming down the trail they assured me that the group (obviously on the older side, like me) were ahead.

Just before the turnoff to Raptor Ridge, I caught up with them. They were pretty amazed to see me, but they had taken short breaks and I hadn't. We had lunch together, as shown by the above picture, and enjoyed the amazing view from Raptor Ridge. We saw no raptors, and this picture below doesn't really give the full effect of the drop-off to the left of the moss. Notice the hiking boots in the upper right corner. I was as far back as I could get and still not fall off. A few wags suggested that I could just back up a little farther and get a great picture.

On the way back down the trail, we saw this incredible moss-covered rock with a huge tree growing right out of the top of it. This is not an optical illusion, but I am just not sure where that tree got its nourishment. Talk about wringing blood from a turnip...

All in all, we covered 8 miles and went up about 1,600 feet in elevation, and now I'm tired, happy, and very ready for tomorrow's massage after my workout at the gym. My life is pretty good, and I am right here and now giving thanks for having the ability to do these things. It will not always be so; that's the way of life. The quality of our life, however, is not measured in what tomorrow brings, but what we do with today.

:-)