Nature Shows
Post date: Aug 20, 2010 4:05:01 PM
We've written about those silly survival shows on televion--the ones that show you exactly what NOT to do when you are in the wilderness--but this post is about something else entirely.
Every evening that we spend in the Sierra, we look forward to the greatest show on Earth. Dinner has been served, the dishes (both of them) cleaned, water pumped, and everything is tidy around our camp. P may go fishing for a bit, and M may pick up a book. But at some point the light begins its slow and almost imperceptible change from bright to golden...and we put away our childish things and sit back to watch the show.
The shadows grow longer in camp, and the glow from the surrounding peaks begins to turn golden, then rosy, then downright red. And we sit closer together and watch, and watch, and watch.
And then sometimes, particulary later in the season, when the days are shorter and night comes sooner, we even stay to watch to stars come out: more stars that you can possibly imagine. So many stars that even the most obvious constellations are hard to find among the glittering jewels.
One memorable night at Lyons Lake in Desolation Wilderness, we lay out on some large flat granite slabs that were still radiating heat from the warmth of the sun. And we lay, toasty and warm, on this granite and watched for hours.
It's better than any TV show we've ever seen, and we never get tired of watching it.