{"id":332,"date":"2017-03-18T14:34:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T14:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/2017\/03\/18\/the-mickelson-trail"},"modified":"2021-10-04T05:12:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-04T12:12:55","slug":"the-mickelson-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mywalkabout.net\/?p=332","title":{"rendered":"The Mickelson Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"
It was a beautiful Autumn morning as I woke up in Deadwood, on the day of the 46th year since my birth. To celebrate, for lack of a better word, I went hiking along the Mickelson trail<\/a> in the Black Hills.<\/a><\/div>\n
Originally the Burlington Northern line that took trains from Edgemont to Deadwood, the Mickelson trail is now 109 glorious miles of hiking, biking and horseback riding. As I get started making my way out of town, I see a lone rabbit eating grass along the rivers edge. So intent am I watching this creature that I don’t notice the man coming up alongside me.<\/div>\n
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He greets me warmly, waving his iron claw hands in the air. A veteran of WW2, he embodies the spirit that I love about this country, it’s freedom and resiliency. He wishes me luck on my journey, and we part ways.<\/a><\/div>\n
I’m soon immersed in the beauty of Fall colors on this October day, the sounds of town fading behind me. If time would allow, I’d complete all 109 miles.<\/div>\n
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I settle for 14 though, and it’s a wonderful compromise. A couple of miles in, I chat with a lady on horseback, a family out for a picnic, and a couple of young mountain bikers. We all have the same grin on our faces from such a perfect day in the mountains.<\/div>\n
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I swig some water and carry onward.<\/a><\/div>\n
I reach a summit and find a split in the trail, which is lucky for me as the alternate route is a loop that will eventually take me back to Deadwood, instead of having to return on the same route.<\/div>\n
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Hours later, I run into the same lady on horseback, and we smile as our paths cross again.<\/div>\n
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I wasn’t aware that I had my camera on the “painting” setting, yet it captured the beauty of the hills perfectly, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.<\/a><\/div>\n
Of all the hiking trails in all of the places in this world, I couldn’t have been luckier to find myself on this trail, on this day, in this place in time.<\/div>\n\n\n
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