Hiking in the Mountains

I so often wish I had the words to describe the scenes that I behold here. Some of them are so serene, so amazing that I just wish I had the ability to paint them, to capture the scene for a moment. But I am neither a poet nor a painter, so I suppose these feeble words will have to suffice.

4 am is an interesting time to be up. I have to admit right away that I had never seen McLeod at this hour before. The sky was full of stars, the moon casting a low, glowing light upon the road before me and the sky had cleared up from the storm the night before. Once again I was embarking on a journey, unsure of exactly where I was going. All I knew was that my family said we were going to a beautiful place and we had to leave at 4 in the morning.

After about a 5 hour trek I wondered where in the world we were going. There was nine of us (my two brothers, sister, the three kids, a cousin and a monk) and we’d been slowing climbing and climbing the whole time. We could see the buildings of McLeod, Dharamsala, and Bhagsu in the distance. I remember thinking, man this better be worth it. And as the pictures will hopefully show, it totally was.

Not only was the green, green land and rock around us just stunning, but the glorious, thundering mountains still covered in snow just a short distance away really made the sight worth it. The not so distant mountains are so high that clouds would often pass by and cover them for a time.

When we arrived, my family immediately began setting up a fire. It really is amazing how we as kids will try to learn how to build fires. My family did it with such ease and so quickly… Our ways of life have produced such different abilities. As the fire was going I whipped out my Frisbee. The young 10 year old boy immediately jumped up, as well as several other members of the family and we began to toss it around. Now I’ve played Frisbee I don’t know how many times, but I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed just so much. Watching a grown man in monk’s clothing try to learn how to throw the Frisbee, watching the 10 year old just laugh and laugh as he made fun of the older guys. We tossed it around, trying to avoid the sheep and goats parading around. How unique and enjoyable these simple moments are- the collision of our two cultures, our two very differing worlds!