Mini-vacation

It was a perfect morning. We drove up into the Sierras with the windows down and the stereo turned up. As we got into the foothills, we hit patches of fog that wrapped the trees and outcroppings in filmy shrouds. Each time our spirits started to flag, worried that the weather was going to be poor, the mist would thin and the lapis-lazuli of the sky would appear. Eventually we reached 5000ft and the rarified air was crisp and clear--no mist, few clouds. We skipped gleefully around the Sequoias, those wonderfully shaggy giants whose trunks beg to be stroked. I love the feel of the bark--its like petting a dog with a wiry coat. And then there is the way the forest smells... the scent of pine and oak and dampness.

I decided I wanted to see Hume Lake, as I had never been to that area of the Sequioa-Kings Canyon Park. So we headed deeper into the wilderness. Its a rather sensual experience, this penetration of nature, delving into areas where the only human marks upon the landscape were the roads we travelled. We curved around one mountain, only to come face-to-face with an entire jagged range of snow-capped peaks. I felt like I had eyes for the first time, like this was soul-food for the eyes, this view. The sun made my skin smart, and the air made my lungs expand, as if saying "now this I can breathe." I felt so very alive.

We wound our way down into the Hume Lake area, and when we got there, found this perfectly groomed lawn dotted with prettily-painted adirondack chairs. There is apparently a christian camp here, and they've maintained the land well, if a little too perfectly. We parked and grabbed our picnic stuff and headed down a trail alongside the lake, until we found a big slab of slanted granite that faced north and looked across the lake. The sun pounded down on us and the wind flirted with our hair and after we ate our sandwiches we stretched out on the slab and sunned ourselves like lizards. At 2pm we decided to start working our way back out of the Park area, which we knew would soon be swelling with people determined to enjoy their 3-day weekend. Just like us.