2015 - My Year of Zen
January 24, 2015

Today I was able to tie my hiking into my yoga and get my total Zen on!

Very exciting to me. 

I chose the Taum Sauk Trail of the Ozark Trail for my hike.  

I started at 9:00 am and ended at 2:00

My hike started off great!  Absolutely perfect day for a hike.  Off I went...........  until about 15 minutes into the hike, I thought "hmmm, did I lock the car?"   Guess what I had to do?  Yep, back to the car I went.  The really interesting thing was it was a good move.  Although the car WAS locked, I was able to throw my heavy jacket back in the car.  Way too warm already!

The trail was a lot rougher than I expected.  A lot of up and down, very rocky and never flat.  Absolutely beautiful though.

First I came to the waterfall.  Very cool but I think it would have been more impressive if it had rained recently.  From the waterfall I hike down (over rocks and trees) to the bottom of the waterfall and followed the trail along the creek to Devil's Tollgate.  Jim told me the story of how it was named. Apparently it used to be a road.  When the wagons would get to these two huge rocks, they had to disassemble their wagons to get through the passage and take them through.  Then they would reassemble on the other side.  Whew!

Along my hike I was able to stop and appreciate often.  Mountain Pose helped me with that. Amazing what stopping to breath can do.  

I also met some really nice people.  I ran into two guys at the bottom of the waterfall.  They pointed me in the direction of  Devil's Tollgate.  Very nice.   They were doing overnight hiking. 

I also ran into a group of three on my way back up the waterfall.  They suggested I hike the opposite part of the loop to get back to the Trailhead.  I'm very glad I took their advice.  It followed the waterfall to it's beginning.  I love walking with the water next to me!

I only had a couple problems.  Some of the rocks were pretty tough on my knees as I was climbing down.  And then there was the little slip while I was trying to cross the creek by stepping from rock to rock.  I was being over-cautious and ended up with one foot in the creek.  Glad no one was watching!   And........ thank goodness for my Merrells.  My foot didn't get wet.

I had a beautiful day and hope that all of you were able to enjoy your day also!

Peace