I got lost. It’s not surprising. In my mind, I remembered
hearing that Ram’s Head is short and quick and that’s all the info I had. I was
told it’s a must – so I musted myself along the trail solo and it was a
beautiful trail. It felt like it was going on too long, and finally I came
across two hikers coming toward me and they looked all tuckered out, but
happy. The dude said, keep walking
and you’ll see the trail past the rocky beach at the far end. He gave me no markers – just the far
end. Well, I went to the far end over big boulders. I listen to instructions
too literally sometimes, and I realized at the end of this rocky beach is
water, and I walked all the way to the end getting a bit scared and cranky –but
once I get a destination in mind, I don’t stop, rocks or not. Rough waters
though at the end put an end to my pursuit and I turned around.
Disappointed I began my walk back, looking all the while
where on earth I could have missed the trail. I saw two hikers coming toward me and they couldn’t find it
either so we were all going to give up, until these two dudes came and
confidently led us to an unmarked trail head that we never would have
seen. I noticed something and that
is that all I need to know to feel peace again is my way. I just have to have a
sense of direction and the angst goes away. Knowing I was being guided took
away any worry and gave me the strength to do what I think was quite a
challenging hike upward.
Okay, but of course, I have to say something here. Oh my was
it amazing. In some ways it reminded me of my fave trail right off the Palace
of the Legion of Honor, but without anything like a big orange bridge filled
with people or a museum and a golf course. When all 5 of us reach the peak and
the main dude from St Croix who led the way turned to us right before we
reached peak and said “You are about to see the most beautiful view in all the
world.” I could tell that for a
young guy –he’s been places, so it made me feel excited.
Along the way he picked flowers off this cactus plant and
let us know it was safe to eat, and they were sweet and looked like pink chile
peppers. We climbed and climbed and I was thinking Big Sur meets Mt.
Beacon. When we reached top, it
was so amazing. Truly one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. We sat silently for a bit, and then our
leader handed me a piece of a veggie burger and we all sat and got to know who
we were just hiking with. These
two dudes who knew their way work at Ridge to Reef Farm in St. Croix and have
such environmental consciousness in their young minds then I’d ever have. It made me feel hopeful that our young
are looking to train our young.
We all walked down close together and then parted when we
hit Salt Pond Bay the way that strangers part ways after spending an important
piece of their lives together on top of the world.
