From
the PCTA hikers list
"We
all enter the wilderness for our own reason, thrill, and with the
grace of time to enhance our skills in this, and to us, one of life's
greatest rewards. We receive much more from our personal time with
nature than we give, and when we get home we are tired, satiated,
and greatly rewarded. Then we return to the wilderness again, and
sometimes a very few of us don't return. We learn the greatest lesson
from the few, and yet we return to the wilderness. It is in our heart,
our spirit, and our soul, and whether others die, we will continue
to return to the wild. It is what we are, and we would die spiritually
without it. Trying to simplify it, or calculate it, or justify it,
just diminishes our experience and her last adventure and moment with
nature. She went for a hike, and so will we. Learn from her experience,
to enhance your own success, not to diminish hers. Then go for a hike
for Sarah Bishop. I took one of my greatest hikes following the final
adventure of Mike Turner in the Wind Rivers, who never returned, and
I can't put into words the total experience of that hike. Death is
closer than most of us realize, or accept, when we are wilderness
trekking. They didn't return, and someday I may not also. Until then,
I will dive deep into the wilderness to experience the life I love.
Walter Starr's last verse still reverbs with me, "Defiant mountains
beckon me, to glory and dream in their paradise." Until that
final step, I will walk with the wilderness to live. " Kerry
and I leave for Echo summit later today—so maybe we'll hike
this one for Sarah!
