Sunday Musings on a Sandy Trail

Finding soul-healing sunshine on a Boise, Idaho hike

And there was a glow across the land

It’s Sunday late afternoon. I watch you walk into the airport with your bags. You’ll only be gone a few days. But as I drive away, I’m taken aback at how much I already miss you. It’s been a while since we’ve been apart.

Sundays are weirdly melancholy anyway and no time for goodbyes at airports, even short-term ones.

I drive away and head to Polecat Gulch in the Boise, Idaho foothills. It’s a sunny day in February and just above freezing and so, as always, the trail calls me. Hiking quiets my mind and frees my soul.

I park my Subaru in the dirt lot and head down the trail. From past experience, Polecat Gulch is a straightforward 6-mile hike on a sandy trail. Not too tough, with just enough elevation gain to break a sweat.

The trail seems dry enough to hike

My mind is busy and wandering as I start out. I’m not completely in the moment.

And I am heading away from the sun and for some reason, that makes me sad. Maybe it’s because I miss you. Inexplicably, it feels weird, lonely, to start a hike late on a Sunday afternoon.