My husband and I recently hiked to Lover's Leap in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It was quite an easy hike, much to our surprise. After about forty-five minutes of hiking we began to feel tired but ready to face the next hour or two. Fortunately that was about when we discovered the "false summit" we thought we were looking at was the real summit and our hike was done, at least the uphill segment. We sat and enjoyed a spectacular view of Pyramid Peak, admired pine trees twisted and bent by relentless wind and attempted to comprehend the great height we had achieved in such a short time as we watched ant sized cars winding on Hwy 50 below us. We watched rock climbers ascending a nearby cliff face, impressed by their skill and speed. They reminded me of the aforementioned book "Wild Trees" and I wondered, "Why would I climb a cliff face if I can hike up the backside of it and enjoy the trail with its streams, trees and birds. There is no way up a tree but to climb, but hiking is a much better option for mountain tops in my opinion.
After resting a bit we decided to take the hard way down the mountain and followed the edge of the cliff over to where the rock climbers were ascending. It felt just right to scramble down boulders and past steep gorges in the cliff rather than amble down a smooth trail. Eventually we met up with the trail the rock climbers follow once they've ascended their wall. It was a beautiful hike and I found a spring. I have never seen a spring before and I found this little miracle of water completely wonderful. Imagine, water coming from the mountains. Sure it originated from snow melt somewhere, but here it was gurgling out from under some rocks, with no apparent source but the deep mountain. It kind of reminded me of Tangle traveling to the depths of the earth to find the place the Golden Key belongs to in George MacDonald's "The Golden Key". (You'll just have to read story.)
Eventually we met up with a wider trail and followed it until we discovered an uncompleted house filled with shrubs. It was quite a mystery as to what happened. The house was built of granite cemented together with windows and doors everywhere. We surmised that either the builder was injured or perished, or he was stopped by the Eldorado National Forest people before he could finish. "Hewn out of the very rocks" as Derek said in his brilliantly realistic Scottish accent.
After we finished admiring the granite house we continued on the trail. Unfortunately the trail abandoned us at the south fork of the American River. Knowing we had parked next to the river we decided to follow it back to the car instead of going toward the freeway and following it. That was an adventure in itself. We had so much fun climbing boulders, crossing logs and navigating through the shrubs along the banks of the river. Three hours after we had decided not to take the easy trail back to the car we arrived at our car exhausted but glad for the adventure.
I could, here, discuss the significance of the wilderness experience, or talk about trails in our forests as opposed to roads, or discuss tourist travel versus exploring nature and getting to know God's creation, but really I just enjoyed the adventure and the time alone with my husband, not to mention the delicious pizza after the hike. Sometimes its good just to get out and enjoy God's creation, to get dirty and exhausted exploring the course of a river, or enriched sitting at the base of a really big tree and listening to the wind blow through its high branches, or discover something you've never seen before (like a half built house in the semi-wilderness).
Picture by Derek McHenry
After resting a bit we decided to take the hard way down the mountain and followed the edge of the cliff over to where the rock climbers were ascending. It felt just right to scramble down boulders and past steep gorges in the cliff rather than amble down a smooth trail. Eventually we met up with the trail the rock climbers follow once they've ascended their wall. It was a beautiful hike and I found a spring. I have never seen a spring before and I found this little miracle of water completely wonderful. Imagine, water coming from the mountains. Sure it originated from snow melt somewhere, but here it was gurgling out from under some rocks, with no apparent source but the deep mountain. It kind of reminded me of Tangle traveling to the depths of the earth to find the place the Golden Key belongs to in George MacDonald's "The Golden Key". (You'll just have to read story.)
Eventually we met up with a wider trail and followed it until we discovered an uncompleted house filled with shrubs. It was quite a mystery as to what happened. The house was built of granite cemented together with windows and doors everywhere. We surmised that either the builder was injured or perished, or he was stopped by the Eldorado National Forest people before he could finish. "Hewn out of the very rocks" as Derek said in his brilliantly realistic Scottish accent.
After we finished admiring the granite house we continued on the trail. Unfortunately the trail abandoned us at the south fork of the American River. Knowing we had parked next to the river we decided to follow it back to the car instead of going toward the freeway and following it. That was an adventure in itself. We had so much fun climbing boulders, crossing logs and navigating through the shrubs along the banks of the river. Three hours after we had decided not to take the easy trail back to the car we arrived at our car exhausted but glad for the adventure.
I could, here, discuss the significance of the wilderness experience, or talk about trails in our forests as opposed to roads, or discuss tourist travel versus exploring nature and getting to know God's creation, but really I just enjoyed the adventure and the time alone with my husband, not to mention the delicious pizza after the hike. Sometimes its good just to get out and enjoy God's creation, to get dirty and exhausted exploring the course of a river, or enriched sitting at the base of a really big tree and listening to the wind blow through its high branches, or discover something you've never seen before (like a half built house in the semi-wilderness).
Picture by Derek McHenryDon't sit around too much or you may miss something wonderful.
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