Day 42 National Park 2011
I sat looking at the campsite fee envelope, I thought
about how I should not be afraid to move on.
It is time to no longer linger here.
So I had to put the envelope back for some other happy camper to use. It was a dry night tonight and this allowed my tent
to dry up somewhat. Mosquitoes are out
in full force everywhere. A neighboring
tent aired out their tent to dry without a rainfly. I wondered if I should do the same. But I didn’t trust this period of dry, so I
left my rainfly on the tent and it rained. Someone will
return to a very wet tent, sleeping bag and everything else in their tent.
The river with smoky mountain top was dreamy to
watch. This trail had interesting trees, logs, and creeks that waved beautifully.
A male deer strolled through the trail.
While on the trail I heard, “Don’t worry so much. Don’t think so much. Just keep your mind focused on reciting. Lean on the Dharma.” Alright, then I looked at the mountain and
said, “ I won’t see the peaks in this weather, near or far. I am leaving the bad guys with you to cross
over and to recycle to benefit. They are
not leaving with me. Thanks!”
I returned to camp drenched and cold and I was glad I
didn’t do the 17.5 mile Glacier Meadow Trail today or anytime this week. The first 9 miles seems alright but the last
4 miles inclines 4,000 feet just past Olympic campground. That part is a challenge. I am also still injured. Regardless of the injuries, it's a tough hike.
It rained four inches this week, the sum total for the
average summer. It doubled the summer’s
rain count and it is still pouring.
It took me two hours to notice I have been shivering in
my wet clothes. My softshell jacket was
drenched through, it doesn’t work well for downpour. I was so cold I put on layers just to warm
up.
In the afternoon I happily looked forward to breaking
into my last bag of rice crackers. I
looked at the ingredient list and noticed there was fish in it. I was crushed, crushed over rice
crackers. The things that takes someone
who has been in isolation and solitude near the edge, who knew it would be rice
crackers. I sang to myself, “It’s okay,
It’s gonna be okay.” Then I broke out
into silly laughter for the next hour.
It’s really time to move on. I
had fun laughing myself silly.
