Crystal Mountain, Washington: My Favorite Place

My favorite place in the world is a place in Washington, it’s called Crystal Mountain and it is located outside of Enumclaw Washington. My in-laws run a Guide service near the ski resort every summer, they take clients up the trails on horseback, show them some scenery and a small taste of the way of the cowboy. When I first went up with my now wife, it was during the summer of 2012, I hadn’t ridden a horse since I was fifteen or sixteen, and it wasn’t very graceful for me. To say I was a little nervous would be an understatement, the horses knew I was uncomfortable, and as I grew more confident, they did as well. I learned how to set the tack onto the horses, cinch it up properly, how to take it all off, and most importantly how to check for saddle sores, brush them down and feed and water them. More than just helping with the horses, and helping around the campsite, I love the fresh mountain air, the spring with Artesian water, the wildlife, and so much more than most city folks ever actually get to see or experience. I love mountainous regions, not just this particular one, though it has its appeal to me, but there is something about being able to get out of the city and just be free, in a manner of speaking anyhow. There is no concrete, no real traffic noise, very little people to bother you, you aren’t enclosed by buildings and such. The freedom from the daily grind is almost overwhelming in the sense that while in the city, you feel weighed down, and you get used to it, and when you go somewhere that is void of all of that, your body and spirit are almost unconnected from reality, weightless and unbound. I have been in the mountains of Iraq many times while deployed there with my unit, and even though we were there in an official capacity, searching for and eliminating Insurgents, I was still able to experience the same sensations I currently experience with the same type of environment. I think