An end of summer restlessness has been holding me close the last few weeks, and I needed an escape before the school year started up again.
A breath of fresh mountain air and a few handfuls of ripe mountain cherries felt like the cure.
As someone who organizes the minute details of daily life, purchasing two last minute plane tickets to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains was not in the plan, but I am trying to teach myself that life doesn’t need to be so scripted.
When we reached the mountains, we hiked away from routine and took a step into the unfamiliar.
We walked along a well trodden path only a few feet wide for miles, a ledge on one side and a rock face on the other.
We filled our hands with cold running water from glacial runoff, drinking deeply.
We rested on boulders as large as cars, feeling the sharpness of the sun’s warmth at high altitude.
We were privy to an impromptu guided tour from a mountain goat, who preferred the ease of the path to the steepness of the cliffs.
The view was the greatest of nature’s design, of distant snow-topped peaks, of deep forested valleys, of wildflowers within an arm’s reach.
We stopped for lunch on the top of the world, sitting in silence and eating our way through PB & J sandwiches and fig oatmeal bars. Some moments, I’ve found, need few words.
Fig Oatmeal Bars make for a sweet, filling snack.
Fresh figs are cooked down with brown sugar into a compote and subtly flavored with balsamic vinegar and vanilla.
The compote is spread over an oatmeal base and baked until golden.
The bars cut beautifully and hold together well without breaking apart or leaving crumbs everywhere.
These bars are perfect for packing for a snack on the go and eating wherever life leads you.
Source: Fig Oatmeal Bars
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