I have probably mentioned before that one of my favourite things when I am out in nature is when you see a mountain, covered in trees, and then you see some clouds just floating amongst the trees. When I lived in Papua New Guinea, we would fly on a small plane to get to where we lived and this meant that we saw clouds amongst the hills from an aerial view many times. Although this was a beautiful view and I always loved getting to see it, I definitely prefer to be closer to the action.
I had an experience recently where I went on a hike that involved walking down into a valley to see a waterfall and then walking back up the other side and crossing over the top of it. When we started the walk it was slightly cloudy but definitely didn’t look like it was about to storm. But just as we got to the bottom it started to rain and before we were even halfway up we were soaking wet. Not only was it much cooler walking uphill in the rain, but it made for a beautiful scene when we emerged from the forest and arrived at the lookout on top of the waterfall. It was a very different scene from the one that we left when we walked down into the valley, and in my opinion, a more beautiful one. The hills that had previously had a brief spot of sun shining on them were now partially obscured with clouds. It was such an incredible contrast from what we had seen earlier.
Another memory that I have was a lot more immersive, where I was on a walk in Far North Queensland with my family. We were on an adventure trying to reach a waterfall that we had seen – we were following multiple trails and were somewhat guessing as to how to get there. We didn’t quite make it to the point we were hoping to, but we still had a lot of fun trying. The walk was on the Atherton Tablelands and there were some hills that we climbed. At one point as we were making our way back to the car it started to rain and we found ourselves walking among the clouds. It was an amazing experience as the mist floated by us through the forest, all we could see what a mix of the brown and green of trees obscured by the white mist. It was definitely my favourite part of the walk.
Whether I am walking through the clouds, flying above them, or enjoying them from a car window, they always bring me joy.
The Barefoot Adventurer 