Circumstances changing perspective
Okay I am on a night shift and am bored so I am going to bring something up that I have always found interesting. I was backpacking for several days as a teenager with a group of other teenagers and 2 adult guides. A couple of days in we had made a basecamp and set out for a dayhike to a glacial lake. We got there and had an early lunch. The far side of the lake was the base of a mountain and at the end of the lake there as a long slope of snow that some of us were sliding down.
After lunch the guides wanted to hike up the left side of the mountain, along the back ridge and come back the right side to the lake, a hike of several hours, then back to base camp. 4 of us wanted to hang out at the lake so the 2 guides took the rest of the group up the mountain and would return to the lake later (thinking back this seems like a big mistake by the guides to leave some hikers alone but that's another story!) Anyhow, after an hour or so the guy and two girls I was with decided that they wanted to hike up the opposite way and meet up with the group along the ridge. I thought this was a bad idea but I wasn't staying by myslef so I went along. Unfortunately we had to start by going up a steep slope of scree. The other 3 were very slight and I was a bigger kid and I kept slipping down and eventually gave up. I said I would just wait at the lake by myself. This was a beautiful area, the lake was gorgeous and the mountain view stunning. Time seemd to drag when by myself and after a few hours I started thinking they might not make it back. I started looking around for where I could sleep, about wild animals etc. Suddenly this area didn't look so beautiful anymore. It looked dark and intimidating. I had a daypack with me but no survival gear so to speak (wasn't in to the whole survival thing in the mid 80's). They eventually came back after about 5 hours but it was amazing how my perspective of the beauty of the area changed so much as I started to fear I may be alone for longer than I wanted. I had no idea how to get back to basecamp etc.
This happened again once as I was hiking alone and lost the trail. When I doubled back I couldn't pick up the trail at first. I actually stopped and experienced the forest suddenly feeling like it was closing in and the natural beaty of the place draining away. I was much better prepared this time and picked up the trail again after 20 minutes or so. Still it was a weird feeling how something so beautiful one moment when you think you know where you are going can look so different when you thing that you are lost.
Sorry for the long winded post. Just the ramblings of a bored Millwright at work (I guess I could go find something to do but browsing these forums is a little more entertaining!)
Cheers!
Gary
