28 December 2008

day 1

Moose Lake, in group site number three, with a very curious herd of deer and a pretty chill group of campers. I'm tired--we woke up at 5 and made all of our ferrys and walked 4.2 miles on Lillian ridge down into grand valley to our campsite. They didn't eat enough and now we have garbage to pack out. It was misty and partly cloudy with a wind up on the ridge that cooled our sweating backs, heavy with uneaten food and gear and expectations. The kids discovered today that downhill hurts more than up and huckleberries are not salal, and hopefully they are all binding in their tents before falling deeply asleep. The road out here was an adventure-safari-trek ride from Universal Studios, with big mountains popping out of the mist and wildflowers, and general hold-on-to-your seats beauty and fear. We hit snow 15 minutes into our walk today and snowballs were thrown. See? I keep my promises. Conrad is very tired, so I am writing fast. I hope Goldie's prediction (something going very wrong on 2nd session senior trips) doesn't come true for any of us. Maybe mountain goats and sun tomorrow? I am hoping. I love the mountains...I miss them on the islands or in the city. I am a subalpine meadow type of girl. So many last minute wishes for this trip and this summer but the sky is cloudy so no stars to wish upon. Everything is poetry here--it is hard to encompass it with words or a camera or even memory.

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