Hiking in Mountains
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Les Chic Chocs |
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There is something about mountains that has always intrigued me. The first time I climbed Mt. Albert in Gaspe, I was overcome by a feeling of accomplishment and wonder. The climb to the top was challenging and the rhythmic flow of my heavy boots became grueling. Stripped down to a t-shirt and shorts I experienced the dramatic temperature changes and the wild forces of the earth that had stunted even the strongest of trees. Only the smallest, shortest and simplest plants could survive among the slow changing rock and lichen covered landscape. Looking out across the seemingly endless mountains, I had the impression that I was the closest I would ever come to feeling timelessness. Standing on one of the oldest mountains of the earth, I had my first inkling of how small our dot of human existence might be. |
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Adirondack Mountains |
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I remember reading about the bears. Their intelligence had apparently become a real nuisance as they hauled in backpacks suspended over cliffs and carefully pulled their zippers open. I wasn't sure what to expect on this climb to the 2nd highest peak and one of the steepest of the Adirondacks. Knowing how important it was not to startle bears, we shouted our way up the damp woods which soon gave way to hot rattlesnake billion year old rock mounds over which we had to clamber on all fours like the very bears we were wary of. Spectacular as they were, the views at the top were no comparison to the hundreds of delicate alpine plants hidden in every nook and cranny. In the end, the closest we ever came to seeing a bear was being on all fours in the twisted-tree zone and seeing the Prostrate Bearberry Willow at the peak. |
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Pyrenees |
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Younger, sharper and higher than the Appalachian Mountains in Eastern North America and older, rounder and lower than the Alps and Rocky Mountains, the Pyrenees peak at 3404 meters. The regular continuous chain extends from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean and a good part of its crest forms the boundary between France and Spain. The French slopes are much wetter than the Spanish slopes and the western slopes more forested than the barren eastern slopes. "Looking at the Pyrenees and recognizing that my name somehow fit into the middle, I wondered how these mountains would make me feel". (Journal notes on the Camino de Santiago) |
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