The bush was heavy blocking out the winter sun. Light
flickered from bright to dark and back as I picked my way along the trail. I
could smell the damp leaves, it was still and cold, my eyes watered from the
chill.
Today I had set out to explore an old trail, the orange
danger tape had been broken and the sign warning of entry lay faded on the
ground. It had been several months since the storm; my curiosity had gotten the
better of me.
Everything looked different now a stream had
carved its way over the pathway sweeping branches and debris over where once a
trail wound its way down the valley. Often pushing sometimes riding I made slow
progress. The power of nature was evident at every turn the familiar was gone,
water sat in pools caved out of the hill side by some unseen power.
Change was all around, occasionally an odd point
of recognition flashed in front of me strangely out of place now, like a face
in a crowd you think you know but can’t say why or who? The riding was a
challenge roots unearthed made slippery by the water waited on every corner
setting traps for the unwary. Rotting leaves coating stones too made me
concentrate to the point of sweeting, in the cold I could feel it running down
the back of my neck cooling in the damp air sending a chill down my spine. Down
the valley I rode twisting and turning under, over I rode, walked, and carried,
old had become new.
I was
riding down a stream that had changed course and consumed the trail, it was the
trail. The valley walls rose up on either side, the stream stretched from wall
to wall or now correctly, bank to bank. A small shoal of gravel meandered its
way cutting a curious path downstream allowing me to pick a path along it. The
water was only a few centimetres deep on the shoal, looming on ether side deep
dark pools awaited my navigational errors. Nature has a way of reminding you
how small you really are.
Concentration furrowed my brow, eyes narrowing,
arms tensioning, was it fear or excitement? What is the difference? The thrill
of the unknown, or new, it was an adventure in once familiar surroundings
