6.19: alta peak. early start. bear at panther gap. peeks out from behind a hedgerow. clap hands. "go on bear!" ten seconds later it changes its mind and bolts across the trail twenty feet in front of us.
meet a backcountry crew. they invite us to stretch with them. such are the humors of long days without contact with the outside world. one time a trail crew competed to see who could reach an inflatable caterpillar placed in the middle of an alpine lake while riding a blow-up dolphin and using a stick as an oar. passing hikers called it in thinking something was amiss.
(a recurring announcement in the sac airport is to report any suspicious activity or luggage left unattended)
sign the logbook at the summit. tried to get a signal. none. relief and worry. one drops away after a few moments.
6.20: four bears today. kept a sequoia seedling and pressed it. several acorn woodpeckers. mountain chickadees. "chick a dee". "chick a
dee". first note is high, the second two descend a fifth.
is that you saying something to me? i'm positive i can communicate with you thru them. can you hear me?
halfway thru a general sherman ipa. undisguised and naked at wolverton. warm rock, hot sun. glacial polish. wash off the day's work in mountain water. dappled shade of lodgepole pines. a burnt out husk of a ponderosa. water skeeters. i think of whitman's naked bathers. would he like what saw if he saw me? i open myself for the earth. for the memory of walt's eyes. that old perv. welcome the sun on skin that doesn't see the light normally. slip back into the water. it hurts to be so fervently cold at first. the breath leaves you. goosebumps radiate over the body. then relax. then back onto the hot smooth rock. the dirt and the water commingling in rivulets over my chest. bright skin. where is a tongue when you need one?
a thought today: what if I just didn't leave? didn't. park service would pay for lodging and food thru the end of september. I'm coming close.
i write these words looking west over visalia at 7000'.
vernal equinox tomorrow. new moon yesterday. of stars.
6.23: hermit thrush singing for twenty minutes this morning.
6.24: need to check out Hanshan. was wished easy transitions yesterday. i know what she means today. spent the night in sac. bright clean. constant music. intermittent announcements. comings and goings of the nameless. only two nights ago i slept with a spotted owl for company.
this seems like a descent.
6.28 sure enough. seattle. i walk to get coffee. i'm lost. the birds aren't talking to me. the squirrels don't make sense. i will not see a bear today. and there is nothing watching for me from deep inside the woods.
there is only the hum of cars outside my window.
mountain time and city time are not the same.
i hold the last piece of clothing not washed to my nose and smell the pine and the smoke and the magic.
No comments:
Post a Comment