Yosemite, shared

After I visited Joplin, Missouri in May, it was three days after the tornado. It was almost too much to take in. That night I sat down and wrote the longest piece for my blog yet, about what I saw, preferring to just “spew” before my thoughts got jumbled.
A few days ago, I spent the day in Yosemite National Park. Again, it was almost too much to take in, but for completely different reasons. I decided to sit on my thoughts for a while to let the events of the past week sort themselves out as much as possible.
All of the superlatives about the place are deserved, to be sure. Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, Bridal Veil, the sequoia groves, El Capitan, and so much more that I didn’t get to see this time. If there is a more beautiful and breathtaking place on earth…
What made this so special though, wasn’t a bunch of trees, or waterfalls, or wild animals. It was a beautiful combination of factors, including the most important one: I was seeing that amazing place courtesy of, and in the company of friends.
Walking across the country is a very lonely and solitary endeavor, unless you do it as part of a group. I am not. The benefits of doing it solo are many: you get to go where you want, with no argument. You get to eat where and when you want to. You can sleep in small places that only have room for one person. And much more.
The downside of the deal is this: when you see a beautiful waterfall, or lake, or even just a deer standing and staring peacefully, there is no one to nudge and say, “Wow, check that out!”
When Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild’s tragic protagonist) was dying of starvation in an abandoned old bus in the Alaskan wilderness, after having spent several years seeking that state of grace that he thought would come from living off the land by himself, he kept a journal. Running out of paper, he began writing short entries in his bible, I think it was. As his days dwindled, he finally had an epiphany. Too late, but still the realization came to him before the curtain went down on his life, and in his bible he wrote, the following: “Happiness is best when shared.”
And so it was that I was so able to see and appreciate the miracle of Yosemite with friends. Rolf and Tessa, a unique couple if ever there was one. I met Tessa on Facebook, due to a shared love of music, and we had talked a few times over the past year, , on the phone and have swapped music many more times. Her husband Rolf I did not know at all. Yet when the time for my walk came, I was invited to stay with them for a few days if my route took me through their town of Mammoth Lakes, California. Tessa and I had a bond already but Rolf did not know me at all, and it created a bit of an uncomfortable scenario early on, especially since Rolf was working most of the first three days I was there, alone with Tessa. By the last day of my visit though, we had established a good rapport and it made the Yosemite experience all the better.
Once again the words of the late Christopher McCandless reverberate: “Happiness is best when shared.”
Especially when what is being shared is Yosemite, and its glory.