The Way Back: Under the Milky Way

My fears were groundless. The boys were great! They not only listened to my Classic Rock ... they rocked out to it while extolling the virtues of The Eagles, John Denver and everything from Neil Diamond to Neil Young. Additionally, they suggested we listen to some rather intellectually stimulating podcasts that ranged from chromosome similarities in Homo Sapiens and Cro-Magnon man to discussions of philosophies with open versus closed paradigms. Not at all what was expected, but just the stimulus that I needed to set the stage.

After a brief stop and shop at the Raley’s in Oakhurst for backpacking food and another brief stop at The Pines in Bass Lake for the traditional “Bass Lake Martini,” a tradition that has launched every backpack trip I have taken since the 70’s by the way. (A Bass Lake Martini, for those of you who are uneducated, is either a Bud Light or a Coors Light with a couple of olives tossed into the glass for effect.) I was surprised to learn that the tradition is so old that not even all of the locals at the bar had heard of it. Thankfully, the bartender smiled when I ordered two bass lake martinis and knowingly dropped the olives into the beer and passed them over the bar as a couple of good-old-boys looked on quizzically .

After leaving The Pines the ascent from Bass Lake to the trailhead is steep. In the first 12 miles you wind your way from 3300 feet to 7100 feet and then level off for the next 18 miles of winding forest road with open range where cattle, deer and a variety of critters abound. On the road into the Norris Creek Trailhead I have seen skunks and raccoons, bobcats and bears, owls and eagles, and lots of others critters. Anticipation of the unexpected always accompany trips into the wild ... their is the possibility of a surprise just around the next corner. As we drove deeper into the back-country I had a growing sense of belonging... thinner air, more trees, and trails leading to God knows where.

It is difficult to explain in mere words what it is about being out where the rules of nature trump those of society, but it was beginning to come back me in a way more tangible than mere words could ever explain.

Since the boys were newbies, we decided that we would break them in by spending the first night in “The Bathtub,” a depression atop a 380 foot granite rock outcrop. We packed only our sleeping gear and a few snacks, along with the obligatory flask of wine. And, as the sun was beginning to set we began our quarter mile ascent straight up the dusty Jackass Lake Trail that circumnavigated the giant monolith. Acclimating to the elevation and rugged terrain was the first challenge. A few steps up the trail and I was sucking wind gasping air, much like a beached cutthroat trout, forced to breath deeper than I had in months and remembering that I should have been working into better shape before trudging up this trail. About a quarter mile up you have to traverse over to the rock outcrop that looms on the other side of the trees. It took me several stops to catch my breath before we got to that point but once there, the path through the trees and across a small stream over to our perched boudoir became clear. The last 20 feet onto the top of the rock you have to hand your gear up and use both hands to scramble to the top. A mere 30 - 40 feet on one side the rock drops almost 400 feet back down to the road on the other. The view across the southern edge of the Ansel Adams Wilderness from the top of this rock is stunning ...

As the sun set, the evening chill set in and the stars came out to play! For awhile, Sully pointed out the stars and constellations in his unique Sully style. Jupiter was the first and brightest in the southern sky followed by Vega, appearing almost directly overhead “the light you are seeing left that star 27 years ago. And, if you look to the east you can see the beginning of the constellation, Pegasus.”

Soon the boys and Sully decided to watch from the warmth of their sleeping bags. I sat up for a while on the ridge literally staring off into space. There was a cool breeze that was coming up from the valley below. I sat there looking out at the shadows looming across the valley and then up at the magnificence of the night sky. The Milky Way became more distinguishable as my anger found a place to hide in the vastness above me. I did the math and figured the light I was seeing from Vega left that star in 1992... My Dad was still alive then and Gina and Rosemary hadn’t turned 40 yet. I wondered what might be happening in people’s lives when the light that was leaving that star this moment landed on this planet 27 years hence.

#Healing #Loss #Depression #Beginning #Anger #Change #Lost