The Hidden Gem I Discovered On The Trail

South Mountain Reservation is incredibly large. It is over 21,000 acres and spans across four towns. As a trail runner I have probably ran the trails in the reservation close to 300 times by now and yet I still discover things, I call them “gems,” that I have never seen during my running excursions before. This just happened again about three weeks ago.

I decided to go for a run on the South Orange side of the Reservation. In that area is a section called Hemlock Falls. It is a waterfall that is very popular for people to go to. I’ve probably ran the trail next to the falls too many times to count. As I am running on the trail past the falls I headed up a very steep incline. My plan was to veer off to the right and onto the trail that goes about 2 miles to the end of the Reservation but, as I am running, I see this trail I had not seen before on the right. As it always is with me, my curiosity and excitement of finding a new trail got the best of me. Though my assumption was that it would lead me back to the falls I still wanted to see where the trail would take me.

Low and behold, about a quarter mile in, I was at the top of the falls. But it was an area I had never seen before and void of any people. It was calm and serene. As I was admiring the falls from above I looked below and saw that the water was depositing into a fresh water pool. Not deep enough to swim but deep enough to sit in, refresh and enjoy.

A hidden gem.

I’ve often found trail running to really be a true metaphor to life. That, similar to running the trails, no matter how many times we think we know ourselves the more we continue to explore the more we find out something new about ourselves. Like the reservation and the top of the falls there are many hidden gems within us waiting to be discovered. So take a moment to look inside and see what’s there.