"Put in Our Place"
Planning to day hike for months, Thursday afternoon arrives and friends tell me the day hike is not happening and that I will join the overnighters. That pre-trip nervous energy goes into overdrive as the trip just took on an unplanned dimension at the last minute. This is awesome. This is amazing. Ok, deep breath relax, turn the music up, chill and watch the desert go by. Thanks you guys, you know who you are. You put me in my place and I could not be more grateful. My place with friends both real and inanimate. In a sun-drenched winter wonderland full of truth, beauty and grace.
Thursday night was another hang out at the hostel as different folks dropped in, had our handshakes and hugs, dinners, stories to share, packs to pack. Is everything in place? Yes, we are all in our place. Put there by our common bond, our friendship, our family, and our love for what lies ahead.
Friday, 4:30am. There is stirring. I look around. "Good mornings" are shared in the pre-dawn darkness. Suddenly there is quick shuffling and shuttling as gear is moved to the cars and everyone takes last minute looks around. "It's now or never" someone says. Time to be put in our place. Put there by a magnetic feeling pulling us upward.
But first, a trip to McDonalds. Inside is the smell of coffee and something vaguely resembling food. In walks Richard then GigaMike, then JimQ, and more. Smiling ear to ear. Has to be about the adventure in store, certainly can't be about the food can it?? Naw.
We're full of coffee and McSomething-or-Others and off to the portal. The portal is a beehive of activity. Cars parked, tailgates open, cameras going off. Wobbling around on heavy packs. "Did I really need all that stuff?" "Better to have it than not." Ok then.
We begin the convergence, an almost silent vigil to the trailhead. That turns to chatter and laughter as we begin the procession. Up, up, and quickly Carillon Creek turns into Lone Pine creek. Packs off, fill up the water, more pictures, more laughter. Time to move again. Up and up to the elephant ear. Everyone with amazing precision and patience. More photos. Up, up the ledges. The energy level and the spirits are high. Everyone is in their place, put there by inner strength, drive and determination.
Lower Boy Scout Lake, packs off, water bottles filled, cameras clicking, laughter, snacks. Everyone melding as a single unit, an almost hive mentality where hard work is made easy by sharing the communal mountain spirit.
Wagons Ho! Up, up, up (is there more up? there is, pant, sweat, sigh, grunt, pant some more), ok, Upper Boy Scout Lake, packs are practically falling off now. Snacks, water, photos, jaws dropping at the scenery. We have been put in our place and that place is getting more incredible every minute.
Just a bit further now, up again, then a traverse. Slabs, solid ground! Where is that music coming from? Just the sound in our heads as we drop over into the East Face/Thor/Girl Scout/Frog/Barney basin. Shangri La.
Shangri La La La La La, everyone humming, the hive moving, digging, shoveling, smoothing out tent spaces, making home improvements, adding a back patio, telling their neighbors to quiet their dog, laughing, huffing, puffing. Then the tents are up and hissing of hot water boiling, food, hot drinks and lots of lounging around, exploring. Some are bored, they head up Thor Peak. Everyone watches the show as the camp bustles. They are up the ridge and out of sight. Wait, there they are! Way atop the ridge they stand looking down at us. Then they are out of sight again. More photos and conversation. The camp is alive. Suddenly the climbers are on the ridge again, heading down. In and out of sight amongst the boulders. Where can they be next? Turn your head for a minute to check water temperature. Look back up, they are back at camp. How did they do that?
The sun is getting low in the sky and then, "Hello!". Looking over the slabs a pizza is delivered. Hugs, pictures, loud exclamations. OMG, can this be happening?! Yes! A warm pizza! Manna from heaven makes its way around camp. As quickly as this happens she is gone, back down the mountain. Did this just happen? Was that an apparition? You'll just have to ask the others.
Night falls, quiet becomes absolute silence as the cold sets in. Barely a breath of wind, the sky ablaze. Do we all have inner alarm clocks or does everyone need to "go" at the same time? 5:30am and bundled figures emerge from the brief hibernation. Everyone moving as one, getting ready to be put into their place. Put there by the night's cold grip and the sun's warm embrace.
Up, up again go the legions. Traversing moraines of white. Some say goodbyes, smiling photos shared, accomplishments made. One more hill and there it is, the chute shows itself, tiny black dots moving slowly upward. On boulders at Iceberg Lake we sit meeting up with day hikers and others from their camp. It's getting warm now, very warm. Packs adjusted, water taken, layers lost, we're off again.
The tall cool drink of a mountain quickly becomes a parched, sweaty monster. Laughing and singing give way to methodic breathing, moving slowly upward. In the chute, more goodbyes, photos. Up, up again, into the shade and a welcome breeze. Mixed terrain and the welcome breeze quickly overstays its welcome. The Notch is just beyond grasp. Up over another boulder section and still not there. Ok, this is a trick right? The ground is flat now. The Notch. Cool weather is now cold through soaked shirts. Layers back on fast. Break time, photos, snacks, high fives. We have been put in our place, a place like few others. A grand place where one is of small significance and consequence adjacent the pillars and gendarmes surrounding us. Put there by its majesty.
More goodbyes, photos, hugs, fist bumps. Wow, here we go one more time. Up, up again into the steep. The beauty and magic no longer holds us close. Now it's a firm-handed parent telling us we don't get dessert without doing our chores. Chores requiring work, acute awareness, patience and above all a clear head grasping the steep, grasping the chore. We have been put in our place. Put there by ourselves? By our nature to seek proverbial higher ground?
Before that can be answered we're there. Turning to face the steep, figures at the Notch. Waving, photos, high fives, fist bumps. Breathing, staring awestruck, turning 360 degrees to take in everything but that is impossible. Otherwise one time up a mountain would be enough. It is never enough because there is always something to behold. It could be the same something but it is new and unseen every time. The hut, the plaque, the benchmark. Snacks, rest, photos. Pointing, talking, staring out to infinity. We have been put in our place. All of our places on the mountain, the camp, the moraine, the lake, the chute, the Notch and now the summit. We have been put there by our nature, our common humanity and by the world around us that is alive as we are.
Getting breezy, time to move again. Back at the steep, dropping back down through the arms of the parent. A bigger chore this time, senses ratcheted up farther than ever now. Axes placed, steps reached, looking down at the steep, at our feet and hands grasping our mother as we wean ourselves.
The Notch again. Ready to fly. Down the chute, across the moraine, glissading, plunge stepping back to camp. We have been put in our place. Put there by something much bigger than any of us. By the common humanity, the friendship, the truth, beauty, and grace. By the common bond, the adventure, the magic of what lies ahead, the community, drive and determination. Put there by the majesty that is the mountain, that is what is all around us. Put there by the Almighty.
Photos Here
