The Trinket Tree

One of my favorite places to clear my head is a trail just up behind my house, that I’ve been exploring for most of my life. I access this trail by crossing a bridge near my house that leads to the other side of the San Miguel River. Once across the bridge, a dusty, overgrown, single-track trail leads me up to a small plateau where the tree grows. The view from here overlooks the entire valley.  This is where I like to go when I don’t need to think about anything, which is about four to five times a week.  Over the years, my family and I have decorated the tree with a birdhouse consisting of a license plate roof and a wind chime made of bike parts.  There are also many other trinkets hanging and surrounding the tree.  Each of these holds a special memory from my life.  

One night, with my friends, we hiked up to the tree and placed salmon on the ground by the tree. Then we set up a wildlife camera to try and catch a mountain lion on video.  After setting it all up and a paranoid hike down, we went to bed.  The next morning, we got a quick bite to eat and were excited to hike back up to see what the wildlife camera found.  Unfortunately, the salmon was untouched, so we grabbed it and the camera and made our way back to my house.  When we plugged the camera into the computer, we were disappointed to find out there was no evidence of a mountain lion. I will never forget this fun and exciting memory because we were so convinced that we would see a mountain lion. 

Many times when I’m sitting up there, I imagine that back in the mining days, a railroad prospector may have been sitting up there as well. His perspective was possibly looking down at the empty valley and wondering what route the railroad should take.  I imagine him trying to draw out a map of the valley so that he could soon start building the railroad. My parents showed me that the old railroad went straight through where our house is now.  I wonder what that prospector thought this area would look like in 100 years. I wonder if he had any idea how different things would be. 

There are many locations I love, but this is my favorite place to take a break.  When I hear the wind chimes, they make me feel at peace.  And when I look down the valley at the winding river and colorful sunset, it’s a breathtaking sight that makes me feel grateful to live in this area.