Yesterday I went on the best day hike I've had in a long time. It was just a little over four miles but I played around on the Cabin Creek Trail for as many hours. On this moderately strenuous hike I stepped into the past and walked where Indians and loggers traveled. Hikes in this area of the Kings Canyon are always bitter sweet. At the end of the journey lay a beautiful Giant Sequoia Redwood grove, while along the way there were ample reminders of how turn-of-the-century logging barons devastated the oldest and largest living things on the planet and brought disease to the native Americans.
The hike itself was rejuvenating and cathartic. I don't quite understand why dirt and sweat revive me so. I'm sure it comes through a combination of physical activity, beauty, perspective, introspection and a gentle breeze of the Spirit.
I think I would be better off for having more of these hikes.
Stump Meadow is a redwood graveyard from the early 1900s
A great sitting-rock from where the whole lower Kings Canyon can be observed
An unknown flower along the trail
A Giant Sequoia in the Cabin Creek Grove
Spanish Mtn in the background (north side of Kings Canyon)
Full-time professor, part-time pastor, husband, father of two small boys, news writer for @U2 (atu2.com), just trying to find my way in a new world.
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