Twilight in the Wilderness January 18, 2006
Posted by admin in : Outdoors/Travel , trackbackI’m loving this picture, which is now my desktop background as well as the background of this blog.
We took it last October. We had spent the day hiking around the Wawona grove of giant sequoias. We decided to drive to Glacier Point, and had to race the sun to get there in time for some views and pix.
We just barely made it, as you can see, catching the last traces of sun. The light was literally changing before our eyes, and within minutes of this picture, it was dark. We drove back to the valley in the dark. We stumbled through Curry Village in the dark.
We got some dinner, some drinks for the tent cabin, and hunkered down for the night.
The thing this brings to mind is the feeling, the thrill of twilight in the wilderness. When I think about it, and what this picture makes me remember, is how thrilling that time of day is in that sort of place. Back here in the suburbs I hardly notice twilight, But out there, it’s got huge significance. Are you ready? Do you have your shit together? Do you have your flashlight? How about taking one last piss for the night? Is your food handy? Is everything secure? Have you gotten everything you need from the store before they close?
I’ve had some variation of this feeling times when we stayed in relative comfort in Curry Village, way back when we used to work in the park, whenever I’ve visited there since. It’s much more heightened when you’re backpacking in the wilderness, though, as you might expect. There’s no store to worry about closing. But still, you want to be sure your tent is set up, you have your flashlight. You want to be sure you’ve got an internal map of your site so you know your firepit from your latrine.
I confess I actually get just a little scared at this hour. Once it’s completely dark, you’re adjusted. It’s no big deal. But in those last moments of fleeting twilight, there’s a fear. It’s like fear of the dark before it’s dark even.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say, but I wanted to enter this particular experience into the record of experiences you can have. Cause you can.
Comments»
It’s beautiful. I remember climbing to Glacier Point for the first time when we worked there and being rewarded with a similar stunning view. It made me want to be everywhere at once.