Part of the 'Fulbright Experience', apparently, is to engage in cross-cultural learning and experience. To that end, I took a day off from my packed schedule of stressing about cognitive dissonance and the eternal struggle between interpretivism and positivism, and went hiking.Oh my sweet Lord Jesus - it was FAAAABULOUS!
We went up to the top of Snowbird (11,000 ft), partly along road, partly along trail, and the last mile runs along a narrow ridge with steep drops down to the valleys on either side. It's a moderately difficult climb in spots... let's just say that I won't be mocking people with hiking poles anymore! Some of it is rolls gently and some is very steep. It gets harder as you climb higher and the air thins out - by the time we were near the summit, I had to stop every 3 minutes to catch my breath - but what an excuse to look around and marvel at everything. The sky was a deep, deep blue; the aspens are mostly still green, but starting to turn yellow; some of the other trees have turned red and rust; the limestone outcroppings are dramatic against the red rock. I loved every minute. We cheated a bit, and took the cable car back down to the bottom, where the Snowbird Oktoberfest was in full swing, so we had a beer and ate our hang sangers before heading from the hills.
At that height, the air is thinner and cleaner; you can see for miles in every direction. It certainly clears the perspective. Happy day.
I'm hugely envious.
ReplyDeleteHang sangers too: glorious.
Looks pretty nice there. Just wait till it's 50 below and then do it again. Jealous of your weather here, we've gone to rain.
ReplyDeleteI will, Gerry... except then I'll be taking the cable car up and skiing back down... wheeeeeeee!
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