Post-Thanks
“Maria blows the stars around
And sends the clouds a’flyin’
Maria makes the mountains sound
Like folks were up there dying”
29 Nov 2023 South Boulder Creek West D and S attempted to meet at the Greenbelt Plateau Trailhead for a mildly chilly evening, but upon pulling up to the entrance, they discovered the trail was closed and the gate was locked. Typical: after a little snow, a little melt, and a little mud, the rangers come along and close the trail, just in case.
Alas, our fearless adventurers were forced to choose another venue. Thankfully S Boulder Creek W is just a mile or so north, and the trail is mostly gravel and rock. So off they went.
Numerous cars at the parking lot, due undoubtedly to the plethora of closed trailheads around the mountain parks. Some cows in the field; i.e., potential harridans. Our fearless adventurers observed the distant herd with a mix of glee and mild trepidation, and duly prepared their thesauri for any potential bovine encounter.
Quite chilly for the first mile of walking, during which the cold wind slipped right through the outer layers. The alleged 40℉ temperature was clearly not universal. Felt more like f r e e z i n g . Our explorers persevered, of course, mostly because they had already loaded their thesauri, and couldn’t turn back now, certainly not because of a little cold wind. Unless one could call the wind a harridan.
Hmm.
Away out here they got a name
For rain and wind and fire
The rain is Tess, the fire Joe,
And they call the wind a Harridan.
Ok no.
Eventually the harridan wind became more chinook-like; not warm exactly, but tolerable. The trail was non-muddy enough. There was a magpie or two. Some horses in the distance. No cows.
The sun slipped behind the mountains, and splashed the sky as though it had plummeted into a pot of peach and purple watercolor. S and D clutched their synonyms and glanced around for any potential mammals to describe, or misconstrue, or venerate, or whatever, but there were none. Not even a fellow hiker.
Leaving Gate 3 behind, they did encounter a few mild-mannered hikers, all with well-behaved, quiet dogs.
Hmm. From a pseudo-literary standpoint, this evening was a bit of a dud. Can’t complain though: the sky was [insert pleasant colorful adjective here], and the adventure sufficient for a post-Thanksgiving hike; that is, sufficient to burn a few extra calories.
All in all, another successful BNO.
