October 12, 2010 and the skies are cool and grey. Early morning and I am undecided which direction to take Sitka on our daily walk. My decision is usually made by how long I feel like hiking and where would Sitka have the most freedom. There is fog obscuring the lake below and the temperature is a chilly forty-eight degrees. I decide the shelter of Chester Creek’s ravine will make the hike more pleasant and hiking the incline will have me shed my jacket in no time. Chester Creek is one of twenty-three major creek ravines in the City of Duluth. Spring fed, it rises in the area of Rice Lake and Arrowhead Roads. But it is the trail from Chester Bowl down to Fourth Street and back that I am so enamored. This 2.5-mile loop trail is somewhat steep and is considered challenging. Each and every day that we venture out is a new excursion. With the season rapidly changing the trail morphs with the constant loss of foliage. Underfoot the leaf bed thickens with rich decay. I can see the creek tumbling down the hillside from points on the trail where I could not see it just a week or so ago.
My practice today is to be part of its nature–not to think and plan but just see, feel, hear and smell the environment that envelops me. It is best to remain present to keep my footing. The roots of trees and rocks protrude making me feel klutzy as my eyes take in the lingering color of the oak and ash trees. I am surprised at discovering leaves yet green and the amount of gold when the vast majority has bared their branches save for a leaf or two. I almost always forget the path that I walk is dead center in town. The cascading water carries me away to the wilderness this was once a part.
Igneous rock sculpted by glacier and water erosion created the geographical features of the creek. The rock formations found in this general area are part of the core of the continent, The Great or Canadian Shield. This volcanic rock is more than one billion years old, some of the oldest on earth. At the top of the park is the historic shoreline of Glacial Lake Duluth. The deposits of red clay found throughout the park were lake bottom sediment, eroded silts from younger volcanic and sedimentary rock washed down by water flows from the retreating glaciers.
The White Pines at this spot are a reminder of the importance of the lumber industry in the history of Duluth. Although the original forest in and around Duluth was heavily logged at turn of the 20th century the steep creek banks prevented the removal of some mature trees so that there are specimens here that are more than 100 years old. White pine for me holds the most majesty.
My thoughts are carried to the gratitude I have for the opportunity to experience the creek as it changes with the season on a daily basis. When I was consumed with the tasks of work and housekeeping I would walk the trail as part of an exercise regime another task to complete on my excursions north. Now the trail is a daily meditation, a portal to hear more clearly the whispers of my soul. In another instant, I hear a child’s laugh carried on the breeze but I realize it is only a premonition. Without realizing it I am projecting to future walks with Halyn, Reed and Myla. I so want to share the magic and the mystery of these surroundings. I hope to travel the creeks and waterways, forests and meadows foraging for treasure as my fellow explorers fall in love with what nature has shown me.
Sitka and I reach the top of the trail just below Chester Bowl. Walking down into the ravine is the antithesis of others’ paths. I walk down with the cascading water and return hiking uphill to be rewarded by my favorite part of the creek where the talus makes the tallest drop and makes the most spectacular of the falls. I am slowly becoming more proficient at my walking meditations. I take a seat on rock where water divides and starts to tumble down. The sun has broken through and a shocking blue sky reveals itself above. In this moment I return to my senses and abandon all thought allowing the feeling to etch memories I hope to one day share.
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