to you

something about buffalo river

I'm so exited about my backpacking trip.

Every time I saw the flowers, I wanted to tell you something but felt improper in some way. Ok, since it is an excuse, let me use it anyway. The name of the flowers is African Daisy, its vase life is about 14 days, much longer than I expected. That's why I was surprised to find the bouquet still looking nice when I came back from the backpacking trip.

On the afternoon of Nov 13, someone called me that they would have something delieved to my apartment. I thought it must be the parcel from a friend in Seatle who knew I would go back China this winter and asked me to take some stuffs to her parents. Then I received the pleasant surprise, a bouquet of Daisy. Thank you! This is the first time in my life that I receive flowers. Though I love all kinds of flowers, others tend to feel I would not like those vanity things. Looking at the flowers, I thought it was so nice an end, a beautiful expression without words, exactly perfect.

That week was quite busy. I had a big exam on Friday, and I would leave for the all-unknown backpacking trip on the same day after a lab meeting. A little worried about what trouble would come across, I got on the van of strangers. As we drove out of Ames, I felt like homing to myself. I must belong to the kind whose homing way is outward on the road no matter where to go. The following 4 nights and 4 days were just unforgetable. We arrived at the park at 2:00pm, and then slept on the grass with the starry sky behind our eyelid. For those nights it’s all below 0 centigrade. Unable to trust the 20 F sleeping bag they provided, I brought a long down coat which ensured my good dreams at night. The first day's hiking is horrible since I took the Dinner No. 1 and lunch No. 2 in my pack which I can't lift up above ground by myself and we matched 8.5 mile from 11:30 am to 5:00pm. For some ascending part, my heart beats exceeded 120 per min. For several times I felt my strength limit. The pack on my back almost became unbearable before we got to our first destination. But finally I survived and still have extra strength helping to make fire and prepare food for others. In the following days, with less weight in my pack and less mileage to cover I hiked quite easily. On the fourth day, we went across the river. Though it's freezing cold and flows rapidly, we made it successfully. It's so much easier than my research work.

Every inch of the whole wild ground are covered by leaves, each of which once sprouted gaily on the branch in the spring. Now they lie lightly and comfortably anywhere the wind brings them. What is the energy of the huge wave of the season alterations that make the whole mountain green in the spring and brown in the fall? It's really awesome. Leaves, leaves, everywhere, cracking by our feet. They may not seek for meanings in their short lives. But they all must know the difference between the pleasant sunshines and bad storms, sometimes probably suffering from pest invasions. The wild mountain is empty in contrast of our steps on the leaves. I don't know if the mountain welcome us or not but I was so excited to go deep inside the wild to see how they live there, the trees, the grass, the moss, the creek, the rocks, and the beauty we seek to visit, the buffalo river. Don’t know what is on the other side of the hill until we arrive there. The river is light green, curving its way in the valley, partially disappearing in the white groves, composing a tone of paradise. I am grateful for what I have experienced, baptised with the wild air and my own sweat, fully recharged and recreated.

We have 3 trip leader, Rachel, Casey and Heather. They all impressed me very much. My only regret is that I can't enjoy very much the conversation with the american students. They speak pretty fast and the topics are not familiar to me. You must know Heather, who has mentioned TA Nikola Pekas and some blue dye. That girl changed my impression of the pre-med student and the Christian. I like Rachel, when parting with her at 4:30pm on campus, I made sincere wishes for her. What she did on our trip win my true respect. There are still lots of details I have no time to write down, hope they are well preserved in my mind.

I will fly to Beijing on Dec 10th, and come back on Jan 9th. No required course next semester but I will work as TA in my advicer's class. Don't know why I feel obligated to tell you something about my backpacking trip. Now it's done. Without your suggestion, it may not happen. Thank you.

posted by eye @ 10:12 AM