Hiking Log 6
Captain’s Log: Stardate 220204
I went for a drive down River Road from Lajitas to Closed Canyon yesterday with a friend who has traveled the road before. He told me tales of days on motorcycles, giving beers to goats, and how bare the landscape used to be before all the development. He took me to high spots to see vistas and low spots down by the river. We stopped often to take pictures and read placards. We had a good day. Meanwhile, my hiking companions of the days before climbed a mountain, fed Mexican Jays, and saw vistas of their own.
In the afternoon we gathered to sit in the shade, tell stories about our adventures, share pictures, and marvel at how lucky we were to be all together. We then talked about other friends who might like to share the adventure with us next year and plans began formulating. Later we sat down together for dinner, then went to listen in the dark beneath a big starry sky to local musicians entertain us with guitars, harmonicas and singing. It was good.
Later this morning, we’ll all pack our bags and begin our journey’s home. We’ll carry our memories with us, which is how all trips end, both good and bad. This one was good. The weather cooperated. Big Bend and its surrounding territory were amazing, and we’ll all be back, one way or the other, one time or another, together or maybe alone. And no matter how we do it, future trips will always be colored by this trip, because that’s life, a gathering of memories with an eye on the future and a plan to gather new memories as best we can with some hope that the good will outweigh the bad.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale