Field Trip to Poly Canyon

Today was our second class meeting and we hiked up into Poly Canyon, however, it was not the ordinary walk that one might have done before. after a few minutes of walking we took a left and walked onto a trail that I had not even seen before. We crossed over a creek by stepping on stones, we walked over tree branches that had gown into the hillside as if the tree had fallen, but it was still alive. This was not just the ordinary hike, because it had rained the day before and the ground was slippery. I had to pay careful attention to the ground as to make sure I would not fall. It was a totally different experience for me and hiking. I normally would look up and around me when hiking on a trial, but today I looked down and watched every step.
Once we got into Poly Canyon we rested inside a recreation of a Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome and began to listen to nature. As the class grew silent I begun to head a stream babbling, and a few birds chirping. Then all of a sudden the noise was interrupted by thunderous pounding that grew ever so close. I looked over my left shoulder, and saw nothing, I snapped my head around to the right and the noises grew louder as if they were right upon me. I still saw nothing. Again my head turned to the left and twisted my torso to see if i could find where this rumbling was coming from, and out of the corner of my left eye I saw three horses galloping away along the hilly ridge. The experience only lasted a few moments, but it seemed as if the initial fear had placed me into a slow motion state making this seem longer than it really was. I was puzzled as to why this noise was so loud and seemed so close, and then I realized we were seated in a natural amphitheater. This brought my senses to the next level, and I could not only hear nature with a crisp clarity, but now I could feel it. I am now feeling as if I am one with nature, and not a bystander of it.