Graves on a Hill
The Great American Zig-Zag Day 168 | Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, KY
A moment of quiet serenity was had atop a hill in the middle of nowhere. Silence stretched beyond the self, burrowing 6ft underground to calm the spirit/s. When I pass, I wish for my nutrients to be returned to the soil. I don’t want a fancy plaque, but to have a quiet place surrounded by nature, elevated by design to come close to the skies, would be nice.
If only the path there and back was as serene.
I know I push my car to the extremes, but I was actually afraid I would get my car stuck in the mud, miles from a paved road, having seen zero other cars on the back road paths I had taken. Sorry I didn’t take better pictures, but when the divots are muddy and full of icy water, taking up 75% of the path, my attention diverts from cataloguing to escaping intact.
Essentially, I was kinda aimless today, so when I saw there was a prairie with bison within the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, I jumped on the chance. Only to find out that it cost $5 to see the bison! Now, I can afford $5, but what is the point of having an annual parks pass if it doesn’t get me anywhere? So out of principle, I decided I would have other chances to see bison in a more wild setting, instead of seeing a herd bound within a cage.
Not wanting to waste the trip into the park, I decided to start driving around the back roads. There are few things more entertaining than exploring the back roads of a National Forest, especially if you only have one axle with power and a low rake angle.
After tooling around, trying to find a good place for lunch and getting diverted by flooded roads, I eventually found a sign pointing uphill to a cemetery. Naturally, I followed the sign and went up the steepest, loosest grade my car has ascended to date, and was met with a picturesque cemetery atop a hill. The perfect place for lunch!
The side of the hilltop was covered in vibrant, green moss, and I had a vision of a late summers day with phantasmal butterflies flitting between wildflowers. The single pine tree centered itself as the only source of green against the blue sky while the hibernating forest surrounding bent their branches to frame it. The gentle, winter sun soaked into my skin and warmed my face.
I enjoyed some lemon cookies I had impulse bought on sale as I set my bare feet on the spongy, mossy ground. I am glad to have shared this meal with the departed resting on the hill.
But then I had to get out of the back roads. I decided to take a different path out than in since that is more entertaining. Massive mistake. But by the time I realized, I had already engaged with some highly technical, muddy ground which caused my tires to slip more than when I drifted. I have grown comfortable with dry gravel. It is wet mud which scares me most now. And the trail out of the back roads was full of it.
I had come to a point of no return, where the descent made it impossible to return uphill in the mud and the path forward was too much for my front wheel drive car. I saw no choice but to continue forward, and as I came to a massive ditch in the trail, it is there I found an escape path. Unmarked, overgrown, with the tire paths almost invisible. But it led me back to the main road and I have that off-the-map trail to thank for not risking my safety.
Absolutely thrilling. I would love to come back to the Land Between the Lakes back roads, but when I do, it will be with a proper four-wheel drive and higher ground clearance. And while I did not see bison or elk today, I am certain that I will encounter wild herds when I visit Yosemite and beyond.
This captures that rare combo of tranquility meeting chaos perfeclty. That cemetery scene feels almost meditative, like the stillness amplifies everything around it, but then the mud adventure snaps it back to pure survival mode. I had a similar moment last spring in Vermont where a peaceful hike turned into navigating swamp-like trails, and that tension between peace and adrenaline is oddly adictive once you make it out alive.