Sit down and die

Sunday afternoon, working in Wild Basin... lots of people coming into the park – many of them departing on their backpacking trips into the Rocky Mountain backcountry.

Man...

"I really wanna spend tonight in the woods," I think to myself.

I bust out a map and scout out a few places I haven't been to before.  The Fall River area sounds like a plan.  I get off work and race up to the backcountry office to pick up a permit.  It's a beautiful hike in the light rain up to my campsite.

I have a brief staring contest with a beautiful buck and doe just a little ways off trail.  It's a scene right out of Bambi.  Which, by the way, is a highly underrated film in my opinion... the animation is breathtaking.  If you haven't ever seen it or not since you were a kid, check it out!  If you like Nature, you'll appreciate it.  OK, end random Bambi commentary.

I pitch my tent.  Cook up some pasta.  Smoke a pipe.  And watch the light fade away as the chilly mountain air surrounds me.  It's a perfect night to crawl into a sleeping bag and listen to the rain fall against my tent.  I write in my journal and read a few chapters of Moby Dick before closing my eyes.  I'm pretty tired from the work day and the couple mile hike up to the campsite.  I slip into a slumber with little difficulty.

The next morning I have a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and break camp.  I have a two mile headstart on the hikers leaving trailhead.  I'm breaking a sweat up trail when I suddenly see an older gentleman ahead of me.  Man!  What time did he start?  I know he didn't camp nearby so he must've started super early.  I politely make my presence known so as not to startle him.  We talk briefly about the morning, the altitude, and where we're from.  I wish him well and am off again.

About an hour later I reach Lawn Lake.  I eat a pear on a rock by the lake.  It's a gorgeous morning.  I look at the mountains surrounding me and notice a trail going off into the alpine tundra.  That must be the trail to Crystal Lakes, about another mile and a half or so.  I check my map to confirm and start heading that direction.

As I'm walking away from the lake, I see the older gentleman walking towards me. 
"Well, hello again!" I say as we meet up. 
This time we stop and talk for nearly 20 minutes.  We discuss hiking and how beautiful it is here and whatnot.  He asks me how old I am and I tell him 26.
"Well, I've got you beat by about 50 years," he remarks.
"Wow.  Props to you for coming out here all the time and hiking."
He told me earlier he was from Iowa and tried to hike as much as possible.  And this was not an easy hike.  I was winded and sore already from the uphill climb.
"Let me tell you something honestly," he says.  "And this is the truth... the day I'm unable to come out here and hike, I'll probably just sit down and die."

We talked a little more until saying goodbye, and as he walked away, I snapped a photo of him.  He walked off into the morning sunlight with his weathered walking stick and leather hat.  His words remained behind.

They struck me, not as morbid or depressing, but as profound.  Here's this guy in his late 70s/early 80s hiking as much as he can whenever he can.  He seemed to be in great shape, and I actually believe he'll be hiking for years to come.  I think being in Nature rejuvenates the human spirit.  And we all need that rejuvenation.  I think that's why I had an urge to retreat into the woods for the night.  Our work lives can be stressful and tiring.  John Muir put it best, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and give strength to the body and soul alike."

I'm so glad I met that older gentleman.  It was an inspiring moment and one of the highlights of my hike.

The other highlight of my hike was actually on the way DOWN from Crystal Lakes.  After the sweaty climb up to the lakes and jumping in the frigid water, I warmed up with the afternoon sun and some hot tea.  As I was descending back towards Lawn Lake, I was thinking about how I still have never seen a bighorn sheep before.  Since my season at Arches and especially since living in Rocky, I have been on the lookout for these mythical creatures.  Literally, while I was thinking this, I look over to see a flock of sixteen bighorn sheep walking down the slope towards me.

"Holy s***!"  Haha, I may have let my excitement get the best of me.

I dropped my pack and scrambled up the slope to get a better vantage point.  Unfortunately I just had my iPhone and GoPro (neither of which are great for photographing wildlife from a distance), but I was able to snap a couple photos and get a few short video clips of the flock.

Of the sixteen sheep I counted, about five or six of them were little lambs.  They were grazing in the alpine grass and walking on the rocks along a little cascade.  Two of them butted heads before taking off.  I watched them until they disappeared back over the ridge. 

Nobody else was around to see them in this moment.  It was definitely an awesome first sighting of the mythical creatures I have been searching for since being in Arches.  They DO exist!  "You're doing it Peter!  You're belieeeeeeving."

Man, I was pretty much on a high after that.  I zoomed back down the eight miles of trail thinking about the older gentleman and the bighorn sheep.