I have been trying to do the Harriskat Trail since Easter… but it was pouring rain on Easter (with just a touch of hail for good measure) and when I tried to climb it a couple weeks ago I didn’t get very far… As I am very out of shape and apparently the entire trail is uphill because, get this, it’s a mountain. I didn’t know that until I was back in the parking lot today. Leave it to me to accidentally climb a mountain.

ANYWAY, today was attempt number two. I found the place really easy this time having been there only a few weeks before but the trails are… oddly located… across the street from the Harris Conservation Center. Earlier on in the day I was feeling pretty damn good seeing all the Black Lives Matters signs out here in the middle of nowhere… but that’s not to say my guard was entirely down. I was still quite cautious when I was crossing the road to get to the trail when a truck pulled up and was debating whether to talk to me. I figured it was safe enough as I was on the opposite side of the truck as the driver.

“Is this the trail up Skatutakee Mountain?”

Errrr…. Luckily, I had taken a map from the bulletin board at the head of the trail. I looked at it and said, “Yep, there is a Skatutakee Mountain on here!” And I handed him the map. He was clearly an old hippie out here on his own, looking at me like I was a little nuts for also being out here on my own. I get that a lot. The last time I attempted this trail a whole chorus line of elderly folk came by and the last woman in the queue, who had to be in her 80’s, stopped for a second to look at lonely little me and tell me to be careful. Sadly, it’s still very unusual for a woman to go hiking alone in this day and age. Especially after news of a couple being slaughtered on a similar trail about an hour away not so long ago. This is another tidbit of information I did not have at the time. Not that it would have stopped me. That couple was in their 60’s and I suspect got on the wrong side of same racist asshole (as they were a biracial couple.) Hopefully they’ll track down whoever was responsible and make sure they never get to mingle in society ever again.

That’s not to say I don’t ever get scared. In fact not far up the trail I spied what looked like a very large and very not native snake sunning on a fallen tree and I have to admit it made me jump! Turns out it wasn’t really a snake, it was a carved sculpture of a snake just making use of the local resources. Across from it lie a giant newt. Together I guess they are doing pretty good job guarding the woods. I have no idea who left them there or why but I was endeared to the whimsy which continued when not far up the trail there was a dragon! Or at least a dragon’s head coming out of yet another fallen tree.

I want to say that on this second attempt I made it to the end buuuut… I did not. I made it maybe halfway up the trail and after numerous long breaks I was still winded and embarrassing myself as I watched others hike past me including children and the elderly. Those fuckers… just can’t keep up with them! And I mean usually when I go out in groups I try to take someone who’s fat, or a chain smoker, or something so I can at least feel good in keeping up. This always backfires when I can’t but I haven’t learned yet. Unless you count going alone. I haven’t done many solo trips in the past couple of years and I have come to realize I need them. I need to trek deep into the woods on a regular basis, all by my lonesome, so that I can feel nature to it’s fullest and quench this desire within my soul to be totally balanced and at peace. That’s what this trail represented even as I was huffing, puffing, and heaving.

Mark my words I WILL BE BACK AND I WILL CONQUER THIS TRAIL! Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but definitely sometime before it snows this year. Meanwhile I learned there’s a ton of other trails on the opposite side of the center that do not appear to be mountain trails. If I were one for researching, or just generally being better prepared, I would have started there….

All and all this is a great trail if you are in shape and especially if you like scrabbling over glacial rocks. It’s a beautiful and serene trail and well worth it.