Shores Lake Hiking Photo

This week’s photo was taken along a beautiful hiking trail that heads off into the woods from the Shores Lake Campground.  Shores Lake is located about 15 miles north of Mulberry, Arkansas in the Boston Mountain Ranger District of a national forest.  As you can see, it is a gorgeous place to take a hike.

I love this photo because the scenery behind me looks like a fake backdrop.  The way the flash lit me up, it appears that I’ve been superimposed.  However, I can assure you that no one has altered this picture with Photoshop or anything else.  This is the way it came out of the camera and yes, the scenery truly is as beautiful as it appears.

The best time to hike the Shores Lake loop is either early Spring or late Fall when it is cool.  Also, it helps if the area has received a decent amount of recent rainfall.  The whole experience is just better if the vegetation is green and the creeks are flowing.

The Paradoxes I Discovered This Week

How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.  ~ Niels Bohr

A paradox is a statement of contradiction.  I’m a thinker so I love a good paradox.  Here are a few articles that have helped me think this week.

• Take More Time to Get Less Stuff Done
• How To Budget After Losing Your Job
• Give Yourself a Break – and Become More Productive
• Why I’ve Decided to Be Wrong More Often
• 10 Reasons Not to have a Will

I hope you enjoy this week’s photo and paradoxes.  May they inspire you to think and spur you to action.  Have a great weekend!

There is nothing in this world that rejuvenates me like getting outdoors!  My wife and I had the chance this past weekend to get away for three days so we took a little trip to the Fort Smith, Arkansas area. 

We chose this area because a few years ago I went on a backpacking trip with a couple of buddies in the Ozark National Forest.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I wanted to show my wife.  I was very glad we went!

Today, I thought I’d share some of the pictures from our trip.  Just looking at them stirs my passion for getting outside and enjoying all the beauty nature has to offer.  I hope they encourage you to plan your own outdoor adventure!

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
~ John Muir

There is absolutely nothing in this world that washes my soul clean like spending time in the great outdoors!  It doesn’t matter whether it is hiking, camping, scuba diving, backpacking, mountain biking, or kayaking.  I love it all!  The closer I am to Nature’s heart, the better.  For me, this is definitely part of living life to its fullest!

The forest and stream in the photo above looks like a backdrop used in a photo studio, but I swear it is real!  This is exactly the way the picture came out of our digital camera.  All I could say along the way to my wife was, “Wow!  Look at that!  Isn’t it just gorgeous?”  She probably got tired of hearing me repeat the same thing over and over!

There is something about beautiful natural scenery that rejuvenates and feeds my soul like nothing else in this world.  I feel the most alive when I’m drinking in all that nature has to offer.  Being outdoors is the most inspiring place for me to be.

Everything was just so green and lush!  I loved the size of these boulders along the trail.  The moss that covered them just added to their beauty.  There were just so many amazing and awesome sights to behold.  I always wonder, “How did that get there?”

This waterfall was the ultimate destination for our hike.  Isn’t it gorgeous?   It was about three miles back in the woods.  Nearby is a primitive campground where my buddies and I camped on my previous trip.  The water is cold, but this pool makes a great swimming hole.  Ready to dive in with me?

What washes your soul clean?  Leave a comment below and let me know!