Today, Friday as for the past two days, we hiked at altitudes higher than 10,000 feet. The snow lay
thick on the ground causing us a couple of extra issues to handle. There is more danger, particularly with
the slippery and thin ice—one can slide, or fall when it breaks. However, something more important for us
is the heavy going. It probably requires 30% to 40% more effort in powering forward, perhaps more. Like
all things in life, it also provides spectacular views. We were in a winter wonderland these last few days;
we enjoyed the challenges immensely and the views are delightful. Thanks to Sean “Iron Mountain” Bradford
for suggesting today’s hike.
We met Chris in the car park on Thursday and began talking. Like so many people we meet on the trails,
he too, had a story to tell. We digress slightly. There is definitely a cadre of hikers, particularly the
older ones (the editor includes us in the bunch) who have a different and interesting perspective on life.
Without wishing to be controversial, we find whereas religious convictions tend to separate people,
spirituality transcends religions, bringing G-d to the fore. It’s a deep discussion, not for this place
or time. Nevertheless, we have met people who have a perspective and understanding that is remarkable—we learn
much from them as well as our friends who communicate similar feelings from observing some of our sightings
and experiences.
Back to Chris. When he was 17, he said to his Mom that he was leaving. “Just be sure that you are home
for dinner,” she snapped. ‘You don’t understand, Mom, I’m going to Europe.’ “You don’t even have a
passport.” ‘Yes, I do, I forged your signature to get it’. As he told the story, his Brooklyn accent grew stronger.
“Just wait until your father gets home.” Where have we all heard that before. Many of us would be grateful
to hear our mothers say that to us today. We particularly are fortunate that our mom is with us. We would
love to be waiting for our Dad to be returning home from work, though.
One of the ideas that Chris raised was a contrast of the Western USA with Switzerland. “Here, we have
true wilderness—it’s natural and wild. Over there, it is tame and invariably at the mountain peaks you can
eat in a restaurant and buy a tee-shirt.” When he said that, we thought of Stuart Laiken immediately.
That’s one of his pet peeves of Switzerland. Anyway, the point of the story is that there are many fascinating
people on the trails—we haven’t even mentioned the real interesting tales from Chris.
It’s a blessing to observe a tiny part of nature at work. Each day it performs its functions, a storm,
sunset… while we tend to walk about oblivious to what is really happening. To think that this takes place
continuously throughout the world, day in and day out, is truly a miracle. The winter wonderland we observed
at the ‘Little Lakes Valley’ on Thursday, only ourselves immersed in this amazing place, reinforces the idea
of how irrelevant one is in the whole scheme of things. Then just as one belittles oneself into a nothing,
one realizes it was created for each one of us.
There are 6-miles and then there are 6-miles. Plowing through the snow adds extra ‘distance’ to the hike.
When we arrived at Blue Lake, we regretfully had to halt our advance. Our ultimate destination, a further 3-mile
roundtrip to Baboon Lake would have made returning for the Sabbath problematical. However, the hike itself was
superb with views of Sabrina Lake for much of the way climaxing at the exquisite Blue Lake—another gem.
In addition, we met Greg Boyer, a professional photographer, at the lake. He proved to be a charming and
perceptive person, amongst other things, who we hope to see again when we visit Bishop soon.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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