We each have our place of refuge; that place we know we can
go to escape, even if it’s for just a little while. That place where you get to reset and recharge, even if it
requires you to expend all your energy just to get there. It might be in the mountains of
California, or the coastal plains of the Carolinas. It could be high deserts of the southwest, or the foothills
of the northeast. No matter where
you are, we all have our place of refuge; our own “High Country,” if you will.
This is mine.
In the past, I’ve always thought of the High Country as
being literally just that. A place
high in the mountains, surrounded by the alpine wilderness, and for some, it
may be just that. The more time
I’ve spent in such places, the more I’ve acquiesced to the fact that it’s more
of a figurative term to me, than a literal one.
To me, the High Country is simply a place where you can go be
amongst nature, to achieve a higher state of being, or at least a higher state
of yourself. Some might call it a
religious, or spiritual experience.
It’s that place where you can go, look out over the wilderness, and get
that feeling in your gut that lets you know this is where you are supposed to
be. A place to be in the moment,
where everything feels right in the world, and suddenly everything becomes
clear.
For me, I have experienced a few of those places. One of them was on the summit of Mt.
LeConte in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I’ve written of this experience before, and each time I
reread that post, or think back to it, I get chills thinking about what it felt
like. I can still see it as if it
is right in front of me; I can smell it as if I’m still there. The crisp, cool air that had a still
freshness I’ve yet to find anywhere else.
The green forest growth that blanketed the earth, undisturbed by
footsteps. And that lone single
track trail, that even amongst the silence, whispered “follow me.”
Another one of those places, has come in the form of the
high desert mountains of Joshua Tree National Park. So arid and hot during the summer, that it seems to sear
away your insecurities. During the
winter, it’s such a place of contradictions. Amidst the desert, you experience cold, blustery winds,
snow, and haze blanketing the mountains.
It’s almost as if you are taken back to a time before people walked the
planet, and you are the only one there to see it.
Recently, I’ve had the chance to spend time in what is
quickly becoming my favorite place in the world. It’s my literal and figurative High Country; the San Jacinto
Wilderness near Idyllwild, California.
Here, you can climb the trails through lush green, up into the alpine
forest, and continue farther.
Climb higher and higher, to peaks of over 10,000 feet, and look out,
over everything. You feel on top
of the world. I felt on top of the
world. I pushed harder and harder
to get to the peaks, lungs and legs burning, to be rewarded with a feeling of
overwhelming awe. I peered out
over the mountains and valleys around me, and felt an emotional connection with
my surroundings. Those mountains
called to me…”Welcome,” they said.
I finally felt as if I have arrived.
I’ve found my High Country. Go find yours.
