I love the outdoors, especially the Colorado outdoors. I am blessed to live within an hour of the Rocky Mountain National Park since hiking is one of my favorite hobbies. I feel closer to God when I hike and, besides the exercise and sense of accomplishment, I feel at peace. The following article may give you a reason to enjoy some outdoor therapy:
…a walk in the country reduced depression in 71 percent of participants…
Photo by Dennis Smith / Reporter-Herald
The peace of wild places makes us happier, healthier
By Dennis Smith, Loveland Reporter-Herald
January 4, 2017
“I don’t know how many other outdoor lovers feel it, but I’m sure most do — even if they don’t recognize it for what it is. ‘It’ is the peace of wild places. And, in my opinion, the grandest form of emotional and physical therapy.
The subject came up on a deer hunting trip to the Platte River bottoms in eastern Colorado last month, but invariably, it comes up almost every time the boys and I hit the open road to go hunting, fishing or camping.
And it always comes up just about the time we cross into that zone where the signs of civilization begin to thin and where mountains and trees, deer and elk, or farms and ranches, cattle and coyotes begin to appear and the nerve-grating cacophony of cars, trucks, train horns, shopping malls, traffic signals and city lights vanish in the rear-view mirror.”
Dennis Smith is a Loveland outdoors writer and photographer, and his freelance work is published nationally. Smith’s Home Waters column appears on the first and third Thursdays of the month. He can be reached at Dsmith7136@msn.com. Reprinted by permission.
