Up on the Mountain, Descending, Home

July 31, 2011
Diamond Lake
Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington

Up on the Mountain

Yesterday we hiked to a grassy hillock surrounded by the cathedral spires of snow-encrusted mountains. It seemed as though we were only just born there, in the center of the Universe, blessed by the sun and the Grandmothers of the ancients. The mountains sang like bells, clear notes ringing out over river valley veins and lush pools of snow melt. This is where the deer bed down at night, those gentle, plant eating four-leggeds. This is where the seeds of buttercups, lupin, and indian paintbrush sleep under a blanket of white to be sung into flowering spring by songbirds at melting time. This is where, if you land in this place, everything else falls away and all that is left are mirrors, air, and light.

Descending

Climbing down from a mountain is a treacherous thing. At the end of the day we are tired, our bones creak and our muscles shiver. With each step we come closer to the earth, our home, our camp, our human destiny. We recross two meadows we hiked through before. We trust our previous footsteps in snow to lead us back to where we came from. The return brings flavors distinct from the departure: Sun ripening towards six-o-clock, bodies thinking of dinner, fire, and bed. We lose the trail momentarily in the snow and fear creeps in like an icy wind. Retracing our steps, restarting, regathering trust with prayer and intention, the forces of nature smile upon us again and we glimpse our path back to camp and safety.

Home

Once home by our tent we remember the gifts of being human and innocent: our particular naked bodies ringing with laughter under the splash of a mountain lake, lighting a fire with dry sticks and cozying up, telling stories, singing, eating and drinking. The hearth of friendship is warm, small, and specific - this is where you get to be you in all of your crackling bones, particular flavors, and singular scents. This is where your body gets to just be a body, where your soul can rest and your personality takes over to make jokes and sing songs for the benefit of all. Here by the fire is the unveiling of the human mystery - while up in the mountains the gods are revealed, here by the hearth the human is remembered back into glory.