暖冬cool夏
這裏一年四季溫暖如春，沒有酷暑沒有嚴寒......
周日(12/11)醒來，窗外陰陰的，走到樓下院子，地麵是濕的，昨晚下過雨了。吃過早飯，天空依然不見太陽。想著家裏的小鳥過一個星期該歸巢了，想著這樣的天氣、自由或許也是馬上就要暫告一段落了，想著昨日在陰天裏爬過的八mile老路，尚覺得不過癮，遂央求家裏領導一起去探條新路。LD猶豫著，答應著，查了查地圖，確定了一處離家23分鍾車程的峽穀。十點多一點，我們上了路。
開著開著，半個小時了，還沒到，才發現可能錯過了前麵的一個路口。車子走進了彎彎曲曲的山路，兩邊樹木遮蔽，稀稀落落有些房子和住家，不遠處是高聳的山巒。隻四十分鍾的車程，我們仿佛來到了一個截然不同的世界，一個遠離了城市喧囂的安靜之處。車子到了一個dead end, 居然是個國家森林公園的入口處，我們事先也沒有買parking pass，也不知哪裏有賣, 隻好停到遠處，誤打誤撞地走了進去。
近十一點了，偌大的山穀空曠無比，沒有行人，偶爾偶爾有幾輛自行車從後麵騎過，一聲"good morning"後馬上又消失的無影無蹤。這兒冬天的穀底，更像秋天，橡樹鬆樹依然蒼翠，梧桐樹葉則早已泛黃凋零。四周靜悄悄的，隻有我們的腳步聲孤孤單單地在山穀回蕩。似乎連鳥叫聲也沒有，更沒有見到任何其他動物，腦海裏此時冒出那兩句詩是，“千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅”。 走在兩邊高聳的偉岸群山和峭壁下， 人很渺小。我們沒有地圖，手機也沒有信號，一路沒有任何路標。望著這似乎永無盡頭的路，我心裏打著鼓，不知這樣的路有多長，它將帶我們走向何方？(萬一碰上門口告示警告的山獅怎麽辦呀？)
LD開始發話了，“我們走一小時，如果還是這樣的路，就往回走”。一小時到了，還是這樣的路，LD又說他不甘心就這樣折回，隻好又硬著頭皮跟著他往前。這時，迎麵終於走來一位女士，一副裝備齊全的樣子，我們連忙打聽情況，她拿出她的表之類的東西，說我們大概走了2mile(我自己覺得不止), 前麵還有1mile這樣的paved road，然後就是上山的土路, 一共是來回十四多mile的trail。我們高高興興地聊了聊，謝了人家，繼續上路。太陽已經高高曬著，我汗流浹背，腳步也越來越沉重，坡也好像越來越陡。雖然信息有了，可走著走著，還是這樣一望無際的路，又開始搖擺不定了。問LD，萬一那個人說的不對呢？LD還是不甘心，說，這樣吧，再十分鍾。就這樣過了兩個這樣的“再十分鍾”,終於走到柏油路的盡頭，走出了山穀，看到土路蜿蜒，向上盤旋。我倆站在高處，望著藍天，和不遠處霧氣蒸騰的山巒，拍了幾張照片，這才準備打道回府。在三個多小時的行程中，隻碰到另外三個徒步登山者和七位自行車騎士。
走在下山的途中，隻覺腳步輕盈。山穀的風習習吹來，涼爽清新。一路在想，其實人生何嚐不像今天的旅行。走在低穀時，看不到盡頭，看不到希望，沮喪，孤獨。而一路上，即便有人相助，這種幫助也是短暫的，如果你自己沒有信心，放棄了，一樣走不出人生的低穀。但一旦你能堅持下來，峰回路轉，人生的轉折就在眼前。
Woke up to a rare gloomy morning on Sunday, I asked my husband if he would like another hike, in addition to the Saturday’s eight- mile one. He was hesitant, and I was not sure either. After the breakfast and his research, we were in the car, heading to a new trail that is supposed to be 23 minutes drive away. However we found ourselves missed the entrance after about 30 minutes drive. We did not want to turn back, as the deeper we drove, the more appealing it was. Within such a short distance, there is another world, so quiet and rustic that it contrasts strikingly from the hustle and bustle of the city we come from. At the end of the road is a gateway to a National Forest. Unplanned, but without much thought, we got in, thinking it will be just another trail we have been hiking every week.
The trail starts from the bottom of the valley and leads upward to the depth of the mountains. It is paved with alsphat. Old big oak trees, still in their dark green color, stand tall among the bushes and among the yellow brown sycamore trees leaves. The sun came out, shedding the light on the misty mountains and the serene valley. The air was crispy fresh, and there was no other sound except the echoing of own footsteps. We were the only two hikers on the trail. Once in the first hour, three young girls biked by and greeted us "Good morning", and then quickly disappeared out of sight. Walking mostly on the paved trail, and occasionally on the leafy road under the canopy of trees, we did not have much pleasant surprise as we expected. Unlike any other trails we have been to, where we are familar with almost every twist and turn, or where we always run into people, this one was so empty. "Why aren't there other hikers? How deep the valley is? Will there be mountain lions as warned at the entrance? " With no map, no cell phone signal, no road sign at all, what is ahead of us and where are we going? I couldn't stop worrying.
“Let’s hike for about an hour, and we will turn back”, said my husband.
The road ahead seemed endless, and with the towering mountains by the sides, we were like two ants inching upwards. Every turn looked the same to me. We did not see any animals, hardly any birds either. It was boring. The eerie quietness gave rise to loneliness, and I felt depressed somehow. I did not know if this kind of road would go on forever. I asked my husband if we should stop here. He was obviously not content, and persuaded me to hang on another ten minutes. One hour passed. Finally, we were relieved to see a lady coming downhill towards us. We stopped her for some information. She told us that we had hiked about 2 miles from the entrance, and there was another one mile paved trail ahead and then it should be connected by a dirt road leading to the mountain top. We thanked her gratefully and then continued our way.
I was sweating and my legs were feeling heavy. There's not much scenery at the valley, different from the view we would normally have at the ridges. The lengthy road finally came to an end when we stepped over the divided line between the end of bottom valley and beginning of the mountain top. The view changed, from barren mountains a few hundred yards away to the nearby misty moist side where Torrey pine trees abound. Our mood lightened with the elevation, as we were overlooking at the valley down beneath us. There would be another four more miles to the very top. Not prepared, we decided to turn back.
We walked briskly downhill. The route was no longer daunting, as we knew clearly this time where it would be taking us. This mini-adventure, like any unknown journey in our life, caught us off guard and tested us profoundly.
你的擔心我太理解了。有一次我們走新的trail，就在家門口，我都有點怕。那天天太熱，我怕帶的水不夠。在山裏時會失去方向感，容易感到恐懼。
對了，我最近去了Lake Foreset兩趟。在那裏我會想，不知離冬妹妹近不近。