LOS CAMINOS DE LA VIDA
the reunion, the reroute, and a waterfall that earned it — angeles national forest, march 17, 2018
by march 2018 i was four years deep into the hiking era. the kind of deep where twelve, sixteen mile peak hikes were a normal saturday. where you show up at a trailhead at six in the morning without thinking twice and the only question is who’s coming with you.
this is entry one of los caminos de la vida. not the beginning of the era — just one of the days that lives in me.
the plan was mount lowe.
we drove up angeles crest highway toward the peak and the road said: not today. snow, conditions, whatever the mountain decided that march morning — we weren’t getting to the trailhead. so we pulled over at the overlook, got out, took in the view.
five minutes. snow on the peaks, clouds moving fast, the san gabriel mountains doing what they do when they want to remind you how small you are.
our photographer was very, very good. those photos look like we summited something serious. we were basically a couple hundred yards up the trail.
we got back in the car and drove to the switzer falls trailhead.
the community that day was RYP hiking. st. patrick’s day. maybe forty people who showed up because a trail post said come — and come they did, in green and gear and good energy, ready to walk.
there is a group photo at switzers trail camp. forty people standing in front of clouds like they own them. all there because someone organized and everyone said yes. that is the kind of community that changes you without making a big deal about it.
emily was there — my hiking buddy, grey beanie, teal jacket. we hadn’t seen each other in a couple months, because life. of course the reunion happened on a trail.
the trail is about four miles out and back. switzers picnic area, the creek crossings, sycamores and big rocks and cold water moving fast through the canyon. by this point in the era, four miles was a warmup. we did it anyway. the waterfall was running hard from all the snow melt — the kind of full that happens when the mountain has been holding water for weeks and finally lets go.
we stood in front of it and felt it before we heard it.
there is a photo of me at those falls. hands up, laughing. not posed. just what happens when you’re standing in front of something that big and that loud and you realize you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
on the way out, emily and i stopped on the walking bridge and made a heart with our hands over the creek. because that’s what you do when the day gives you exactly what you needed.
the mountain rerouted us that day and we still got everything we came for.
that’s usually how it goes.
if she finds this — i hope you are doing amazing. i miss our adventures. i miss this version of us.
the trail: gabrielino trail to lower switzer falls — about 4 miles out and back. switzers picnic area off angeles crest highway, la cañada flintridge. dogs are allowed. the creek crossings are part of it. go when the water is running. bring layers. it will be colder than you think and more beautiful than you’re ready for.
los caminos de la vida — entry one.
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