When I reached the summit of Mount San Jacinto, I’d reached phase seven. I was so tired, I lunched and dozed off almost immediately under a thick, twisted old pine. Voices from other hikers engaged in lively conversation a mere twenty yards away, drifting into my slumbered imagination. But first, let me explain the phase thing.
Every strenuous hike I’ve done can be broken up into six phases:
- Oh, Hey! Let’s GO!–start.
- Why am I doing this?–about a mile in, especially if there is substantial elevation gain.
- Oh. Hey! Let’s continue–two and half/three miles already? This isn’t too bad.
- I can see the summit/the halfway mark. Nothing is going to keep me from reaching it, not even my burning quads, sore knees and ankles or begging lungs.
- Oh YEAH! Top of the world Ma!–summit.
- The return–basking in glory but can’t wait to get back.
Next thing you know, I was imagining, or just dreaming, a short story that can be summarized as:
The parallel tale of :
- a hiker who takes a nap in the shade of a limber pine, at the summit of Mount san Jacinto, and dreams of arguing with the President who wants to develop a resort on the spot, and chop down a lot of trees in the process.
- A German immigrant lumberjack working in the San Jacinto wilderness in the 1880’s who falls asleep leaning against a ponderosa pine he jut felled. In his dreams, he runs into a bear who scares him to death.
It’s a work in progress.
Walking Project 020_pine cycle – Mt San Jacinto from chris worland on Vimeo.
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