We woke to a sea of green and purple flowers, river flowing by, hugged by canyon walls, sun slowly burning through an overcast sky. By the time we reached Arches National Park the sky had softened to a cornflower blue.

Then we ran, up and down trails away from the tourists through the rocks, feeling free. It had been so long since I’d run the trails and it brought such light-hearted joy. I’m no mountain goat, I’ll be honest there were decent walk breaks involved, but happily (for me) Dylan was still sore from his race so we could run together, sometimes one falling behind, but always pulled back together by invisible strings.

The wind picked up and the tourists retreated, we took the primitive trails alone except for some specks of people on the horizon. Deep into the canyon, then we we took different paths, hearts beating hard until we finally converged again, we were not lost. Deep orange rocks, bright blue green soil and white crumbly sand. It was an alien world, but achingly beautiful, refreshing to be wild.

Is this how nature makes you feel?