Pappa Hardy's Musings on Life.

Back in 1977 I joined in line a ton of other young, science fiction aficionados to attend the newest release from Steven Spielberg, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As anyone who saw this movie will attest, the end of the movie takes place at Devils Tower in Wyoming where man met for the first time aliens from outer space. Since that time, I have wanted to see that landmark.

Today I saw that landmark. It was a wonderful experience. We sat and ate our lunches in the shadow of this landmark. We took a hike around the base of the monument, and I enjoyed taking the time to appreciate and take in this National Monument. The only thing lacking was the aliens, the army flying around the monument, and the nerve gas. Also lacking was the music and the talking computers.

We had a good time today. I enjoy taking it easy with no schedule or deadlines to meet.

When we visited the Mariposa Grove of big trees in Yosemite National Park, there was a lot of emphasis placed on the National Parks “Burn Policy”. We heard a Park Ranger go into great detail explain and defending this policy. The interesting thing about the burn policy is that at one point, the Park Service went a little too far.

It was the summer of 1989 and Yellowstone National Park was on fire. As a family, we had visited the park the previous summer and had enjoyed the beautiful greenery of the Park. When the fire first started, they treated the fire as a natural occurrence and decided that they should just let it burn so the ecosystem would eventually be balanced out.

Instead, the fire got out of control and the park was burning so badly that Old Faithful Inn, and other man made treasures were in danger of being burned and much of the park was burning out of control. Finally, man stepped in and intervened. I think that since then the Park Service has decided that sometime man must step in and make a difference. We went through the park two or three years later, and it was amazing on how quickly things were starting to recover. It appears that the limited burn policy in Yosemite National Park is starting to make a difference. They want to burn away the underbrush that protection has created, and which can lead to a catastrophic fire of Yellowstone proportions. This could particularly hurt the Giant Sequoias if they didn’t make the change.

I actually heard today, “I Feel Like I Am Going to Lick the Asphalt in a Minute, Yum, Yum” and the crazy thing is I sympathized with what the guy was saying. We were coming back down from a hike to the Vernal Falls (I only made it to the first bridge, about 1 mile). They said that it actually was only .8 miles and a vertical climb of maybe 500-1000 feet. To me it felt like a vertical climb of 5 miles and a hike of 20 miles. Jeff said early on, this steep spot is about the worst that it gets. Liar!!!!

I thought it was going to kill me and what the guy said struck me as a summary statement of what the experience was like to me. Let me say, it was a challenge for an old guy with a knee that is giving out and a ticker that works not at full capacity. I am glad I made it as far as I did. However, it was a an ordeal and a challenge and one that I won’t forget for a while. I at times felt like I was going to collapse on the trail. I could see the headlines, “56 Year Old Fat Man Dies on easy Assent up to first bridge to Vernal Falls”. I am glad I made it, but I thought I was going to be eating some asphalt today.

We went on a fun walk this morning. I still have a little bit of the old youthful body in me. We as a huge family walked up to the Chilnualna Falls here in Yosemite National Park. It was a nice walk, somewhat strenuous but easy enough that we could make it. I can tell that I am getting older. My balance isn’t what it used to be and I can tell I am getting older. I need to start doing a better job of this getting old.