 Photo Credit: Cody Wong | I do not believe that I have been on a more beautiful hike. |
Cody and I embarked on our fifth hike of the summer, which took us past blue glaciers, fields of fireweed, and tired tourists. The ascent to an incredible view is worth the 4,000 foot and 9.7 mile round-trip hike. We were surprised by how heavily trafficked the trail was, and we will remember to start a little later in the day next time. To get a reprieve from fellow travelers, we stopped at a watering hole for about an hour. We soaked our feet in the cool snow melt and chatted with a few visitors from London, mainland China, and California.
The moonscape left behind by the retreating glacier is a monochromatic desert with percussive beats of extroverted greens, shy yellows, and reaching pinks.
And then there is this...
Photo Credit: Cody Wong
Creases
It stopped me. It awed me.
The way the mountains peak above
the ancient ice made me think
about time and the slow aching
expanse of it as it folds
onto itself and stretches
into ripened wrinkles.
It made me. It wrinkled me.
The wrinkles of a glacier,
like an elephant, like an autumn leaf,
like dimpled flesh, like my face in
the coming years. I will feel
contentment and belonging
in those creases to come.
It stopped me. It awed me.
The way the mountains peak above
the ancient ice made me think
about time and the slow aching
expanse of it as it folds
onto itself and stretches
into ripened wrinkles.
It made me. It wrinkled me.
The wrinkles of a glacier,
like an elephant, like an autumn leaf,
like dimpled flesh, like my face in
the coming years. I will feel
contentment and belonging
in those creases to come.
