Fear

Sunday I snuck in a quick hike post nap. I was tired after working but really glad I got up and made the trip.
I drove East of Seattle to Rattlesnake Ridge. I knew it snowed around Seattle earlier in the week but wasn't expecting what I found. The trial had about 2-3 inches of snow on it...it was fairly packed down so it was hikeable without gear but the entire way I hiked through snow. It was beautiful.

The hike up was slick at times, but the whole way I kept thinking that the way down will be precarious...if it is slick going up I am gonna struggle coming down. But the trail was packed so I figured it was doable.
The top was magnificent...the sun was out so much that many of my pictures are too washed out. But here are a few.

It came time to turn around and go down. I started off going really slowly and hesitantly and was slipping in the process. I had noticed on my way up that people were half jogging/shuffling on the way down, so I decided to give it a try. It seemed counteintuitive to run on the snow and I was nervous about falling but I decided to try. And supisingly it not only worked but was really fun. I ran/slid/shuffled the whole way down. I was a bit out of control at times but it was really fun. As I was jogging down I thought about fear....it has been a common theme in my life and I am seeing more and more ways that it leads my life on this journey out here. This was such a simple example of that. I started the going down portion of the trail fearful and it was miserable-I was worried about falling and it was not enjoyable. When I let go of some of those fears I was so free to enjoy the ride down.
Oh this is what I was shuffling down.Yikes! This was right after I took a spill :)