Haunting and beautiful...and freezing and raining and a long way from our current, local home.
We organized a shuttle to take us to a lone hotel in the 'middle of nowhere', some 20kms away so that we could walk back to our apartment. Sounds smart, doesn't it? There was a time we would have wondered about that, too. These days, it sounds just right. The weather was dull to poor which did not augur well for a dry and good visuals kind of day. However, we find generally, and particularly in regions such as Patagonia, that should you act rationally with regard to the natural elements, a person will spend an awful amount of time indoors.
Suffice to say, we experienced rain, cold, high-winds, some steep and slippery sections, long and fairly level paths through the forest and overall, a remarkable day in an amazing region that proved to be challenging, colorful and most attractive. While it takes only a few hours to recover physically from a 23km hike, the experience becomes ingrained in one and the pleasurable feelings remain indefinitely.
On a dull day, the colors brightened it immensely, the slope challenged us although pictures never capture the true gradient.
Over the years, we’ve climbed, hiked or walked up a number of mountains in many parts of the world and fortunately, returned. We also realize, should we live for a thousand years, we would only come across a small fraction of the world’s hills, undulations, mountains and volcanoes. We suppose when one walks the land, the perspective of size of Planet Earth changes. Sitting in a car or strapped to a seat on an aeroplane gives one a fair indication of vastness but doesn’t come anywhere as close as a measure compared with walking at a pace of 3 or less miles per hour. Often, but more particularly, on our recent 15-mile walks to Laguna De Los Tres, Laguna Torre and Loma del Pliegue Tumbado, amongst many others, we had time to contemplate the humility one develops when surrounded by or on mountains. In the former hike, because of adverse weather conditions including thick and haunting snow covering the mountains, an eerie feeling overcame me. I continued to absorb the magnificence of the many mountains about, their beauty enhanced by a makeover of fresh snow and lack of color, black-and-white, because of poor sunlight. I felt even more insignificant than usual in their presence. While hardly humble, I feel that way most times. We humans feel we’ve conquered the world, brought about amazing technology and exploited the earth to our benefit. The brilliance of man knows no end, in my opinion, technologically speaking. It’s beyond belief. Nevertheless, most of us contribute very little in that regard. Innovation has come from a few, relatively speaking. In a fashion, most of us are not too important or essential to the world’s functioning. It would seem: We are mostly users and consumers rather than developers. (continues at end)
Fantastic feeling to reach this height and absorb the mystery surrounding us. The mountain to the right is/was
haunting, just beautiful in black and white.
Struck one of us as a sultry woman waiting for a sucker to climb her. (Perhaps, I've been on one mountain too many.)
The editor returns from a treacherous top, tough because of high winds.
Toward the end of the hike, we approach the glacier-fed river, from above.
Jenni reaches the wind-blown peak, icy in light rain and exclaims she loves the rocks. I wondered if she meant the rocks in her head. With the elements against us, we loved the day's experience. Go figure!
Knowing Jenni fairly well, she was not contemplating a swim...I think.
A person has to wonder why the sun chose to shine on the mountain we selected not to hike. Nevertheless, it was
a beautiful scene.
Particularly loved this scene. As our son Gavin might remark, "Dad, which scene don't you like?"
Lake Tunel in the distance.
However, when I look to the mountains, supposedly dumb edifices of solid rock without souls, feelings…without life, I’m in awe. Yet, they are nothing. Why then, do so many people know of them, their names, their positions, their power while so few of the Earth’s inhabitants are known to each other? How insignificant is something that is acknowledged as one of the world’s icons, be able to create it’s own weather, affect the weather, cause harm, strike out at trespassers, exude beauty or make man want to conquer it? The mountains are in fact, everlasting—man is not. In the end, man will always lose to the mountains. The life of the mountains, except for partial destruction of volcanoes is infinite whereas man’s is three score and ten. So who is the winner? Even the conqueror who is able to reach the highest point, will die either somewhere else or on that mountain. It’s inevitable.
But, you might question, the mountain is stationary, it cannot attack or fight back. Well. That might not be true. Watch how it summons the winds to blow a person off its slopes, or the rain to wash a person away, lightning to burn, avalanches to crush or the cold to freeze a person to death. Some of them rise so high that most people, if they even had a chance of reaching such altitude, could not absorb sufficient oxygen much below their summits. While life should not be about physical fights for victory, it seems man has designed life in that fashion. To the victor go the spoils. In the end, who is the victor? Someone who wins a single battle or who enjoys multiple victories? No. It’s always the mountain, the supposedly dumb, unthinking, soulless, witless lump of rock.
Surely life is not all about or at least only about struggling and fighting to succeed. Of course, that’s an essential element. There must be something in addition to that, to our precious gift. Perhaps that’s one of the major differences between mountains that make me feel so humble and an attribute of humankind that enables it (humanity), should it so choose, to be far greater than the greatest of mountains: The soul and flowing from it, the beauty of kindness. In our life experiences, we have no hesitation in acknowledging the greatest gift one human can bestow upon another is that of kindness. We saw it and experienced it first-hand from our parents and see it elsewhere but to a much lesser degree. What is kindness? Perhaps simply put: It is the help, assistance or support one gives another with no expectation whatsoever of something in return. With all our faults, and humanity has shown the world the worst of the worst, the ultimate attribute is kindness and no mountain has any idea of the concept. I’ll always feel humble when I think of mountains, I might feel differently about humility toward some of my fellow beings but the most humble feelings of all occur in the presence of a person who is kind. It is indeed a moment of awe.
Regrouping at the top. The variation in weather from base to peak was staggering. I thought I heard Jen singing, "C'mon baby, light my fire".
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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