Be the Butterfly

Now that I'm in Pennsylvania, there is a whole new area to explore. My friends and I started with a local mountain called Mount Nittany. It is a prominent feature in this town, and I would highly recommend going if you are in the area.

The trailhead sits at the end of a residential road with a quirky house guarding the trails. The trailhead boards were covered with helpful tips, inspiring quotes and maps of the trails. A few of the notes were from hikers who spotted bears and wanted to warn others. 

We took the white trail and eventually hiked a little bit of the blue trail, but the mountain has multiple variations to choose from. The trails were rocky, but well maintained and user friendly with paint on a couple trees to lead you on the right path.

Trees covered the ground and kept shade over us the whole time. They climbed up the steep trails alongside us with their leafy branches overhead. 

For the first half mile, the trail has a steady incline which tired me out, but the rest of the trail was decently level. Along our path, we got to see two different lookouts over the town. It felt like looking through a porthole in the trees to see an expanse of green land.

The weather was gorgeous with a light breeze and low humidity. For a Sunday, the trail seemed quiet with only a couple groups and a few cute dogs. It felt great to be surrounded by nature on a beautiful day in a quiet atmosphere.

At the end of the hike, walking to the car, I passed a clothing hamper being used as a butterfly hatching area. I peeked in and saw a Monarch butterfly flitting around. A man named Dan, who I believe takes care of the butterflies and lives right at the trailhead, asked me if I wanted to let it go.

He said it was the first to hatch this season and I could release it to take its first flight if I wanted. I 100% took the offer. 

 I cupped the butterfly and pulled it out. It crawled to the tips of my fingers and took off to land on a tree a little ways away.

It was a special feeling to give the butterfly its first flight into the world.

Then Dan gave us some great words of wisdom to take away from the mountain. He mentioned the butterfly effect and how one flap of a butterfly's wing can change the world. 

"Be the butterfly," he said and followed with, set good intentions and impact the world.

I'm going to try to be the butterfly.