Back from the Pack

I just had a fabulous weekend away in the wilderness with my dad! Because med school classes haven't really started yet, I was able to continue the tradition (from since I was 12 years old) of going backpacking every summer. This year we went up to a place called Gothic Basin, a huge basin (trail beginning up the mountain loop highway past Granite Falls) with several lakes, waterfalls, towering rugged castle peaks, and plenty of cool rocks. Speaking of rocks, looking at some of them was like looking at a time capsule--seeing all the different layers created by tons of pressure and time. We saw brown limestone, what looked like fools gold flakes, granite, agate, and stuff that sounded (when you dropped it) like and iron or steel slab and with edges sharp enough to be a dangerous weapon. Dad and Sonata and I took off Friday morning and returned Saturday evening. It was probably a 9-10 mile round trip up to Foggy Lake, plus 2 extra hikes (one the first day after we arrived at camp and the second before we left camp the next day). The views were INCREDIBLE. We even ran into some fabulous LOADED huckleberry patches. So good even Sonata was grazing on them. Whenever I go up to the mountains and then come back below and hear songs that talk about how "mountains bow down ... at the sound of your Name" or "the heavens declare your greatness...the mountains bow down before You" -- I envision how GREAT and AWESOME our God is, that even this seeminly insurpassable and dangerous mountains which challenge man to conquer them were created by an even greater, more powerful God. When you're out there everything seems to shout praise to God...well, maybe not the soreness you feel when you're done, but it's all good. It was a great time--spending some time with dad too, pondering things...for example, my dad made the comment "wow look at this rock--so flat it looks as if it was cut with a machine." and it made me think about how human-centric we are. not that he made an evil comment, but is it nature that mimics man and man imposes his ideas on it? or in reality, is man trying to copy nature (i.e. our machines are made to cut like time and pressure had created that flat rock)?

Anyhow, enough with the philosophy. Saturday night was fun too--I hung out at a pizza place with my sister and her bf and our friend Sachiko who lives with us. Good for laughs and even some more philosophical type conversation. But now I'm back from the pack and life is moving on this week.