Day 37. Part 1. April 6. Mile 465.5 to Mile 482.2

Day 37. Part 1 Thursday April 6. Mile 465.5, elev.  6022, to Mile 482.2, elev. 7148. Walked 16.7 miles, 3537 ft up, 2383 ft down. Total grade 355.4 ft/mile. 

Dear Trail Friends,  

There is so much I'd like to share about today but it is late and I need to sleep soon. 

Let's start at the end. The hike ended with a very steep rocky and beautiful climb up to my present elevation (over 7000 ft). I had a thought as I climbed that all the big loose rocks were very beautiful. It was interesting to think of the difficulty and he beauty being the very same thing. 

Photos 1 through 3 all show that climb. Photo 1 is a close-up of the rocky trail one must clamber through. Photo 2 focuses on the beautiful surroundings. Photo 3 shows another stretch of trail with different rocks. 

 

  

I spent a lot of the day in reverie. I began to consider the broken bridge itself as the destination for my pilgrimage. The broken bridge to the place where the people emerge from darkness to light. To contemplate the "you cannot get there from here" aspect of the situation. Having just read over Chris's lecture notes for a talk she will present this weekend to Minneapolis Jungians on Antigone, I thought a lot about tragedy as part of the nature of things, part of what human life is all about. Chris speaks of Greek tragedy bringing the whole community together to experience and contemplate the conflicting forces within the community and within individuals that cannot be resolved. It occurs to me that a broken bridge is symbolic of many tragedies (or disappointments): failures of connection in relationships, between political parties, within families, within oneself. The inability to integrate past and present. Failures of connection and completion. That my pilgrimage might be in part a contemplation of disconnection. Missed connection. Broken bridges. It's different from a pilgrimage to a place that represents hope and positive transformation. It's a pilgrimage to a place that symbolizes brokenness. Discontinuity. Loss. 

Why did I feel so satisfied and peaceful as I contemplated this possibility? The irony: the broken bridge gives me a sense of destination and completion. It once again makes my hike feel connected with meaning and purpose. 

Meanwhile I couldn't resist taking photos of cairns. They are so much part of this trail. There are so many places where I can't discern a trail at all but the cairns tell me where to go. Cairns feel as essential to this trail as the PCT emblem (which I tattooed onto my arm) did to the PCT. I find myself wondering who built these cairns, when, why, for whom? Who were they imagining would follow the trail they marked? Photo 4 - another collage of cairns. 

 

They are quite wonderful, aren't they?

Photo 5 is some steps someone built that promoted similar reflections for me. 

 

To be continued in Day 37, part 2.