Bending the map
It was late. The exhiliration of a long day of backpacking in the High Sierras of California was slowly giving way to exhaustion. At 10,000 feet the air was thin, light was fading and I had to make my destination for the night. "Chicken Spring Lake" - what a quaint name - but it would be my stop - hot food, a warm bed - well actually a cozy sleeping bag, and solitude to watch the stars. All I had to do was keep those feet moving and look for the outlet from the lake - sometimes dry late in the season, the guide books suggested. It should only be an hour and half away.
I was in the middle of a 3-day backpacking trip. Pre GPS - many maps to carry and I didn't quite have the segment of map for this particular stretch. Shouldn't matter, I thought, I had a good map for the stretch from the lake to the pass beyond - just not for this segment. My first mistake ...
What's this - the outlet from the lake already. I thought it was an hour and a half way. Hmm, must have made much better time than I thought. My second mistake ...
Ah, a good camp-site. I'll check out the lake in the morning. It should be just behind the rise there. The head of the cirque (where the glaciers once carved out this bowl) was distinct - just a little smaller than the topo map indicated and maybe a little askew. But this is definitely Chicken Spring lake ...
Wake up in the morning. Gorgeous scenery. Go over the rise and check out the lake. It's there alright - but mostly dry. Hmm.. the guide book never said anything about the lake itself being dry - only about the outlet stream. Good ! I have something juicy to post to the Sierra hikers bulletin board when I get home .... Not only is the outlet dry, but the lake itself is mostly mud. Perhaps the consequence of a drier than usual year. In the little community of us Sierra backpackers, information is a prized commodity, a modern day pot-latch of information giving, but without the waste.
The pass is only a half an hour away. Nice trail. Brisk walk - no fatigue after a good night's sleep. Home tonight.
Twenty minutes. Should be coming to the pass. The trail should rise to the crest of the ridge and cross over. Should be beginning a bit of a climb just about now .....
Twenty more minutes. Where is that *%$@ pass ? First signs of doubt. Did I miss it ? Was there supposed to be a side trail that I hadn't noticed ?
Ten more minutes. No pass! Yes panic! I am lost. What do all the books say? Stay calm (yeah right !). Stay still - don't make it worse by wandering farther. But I should go on, shouldn't I ? Maybe it's just a little bit ahead .... Ok. I'll walk on a bit more - but only because I'm confident I can backtrack to Chicken Spring lake and reverse my trip. That's going to add a whole extra day to the trip. There's going to be some explaining to do at home ...
What's that ? The trail is finally beginning to rise to the ridge line. About time !! Exhiliration begins to set in - displacing the panic. Last few steps up to the pass and I peer over to see .. Chicken Spring lake ! Bright, blue and full of water, with only a trickle on the outlet stream.
Snap !! A major reset. I have only now reached Chicken Spring Lake. Laughter in my mind and heart. I shout out to the sky - "The joke is on me."
What had happened ? As usual with these things a compounding of mistakes. Fatigue, inadequacy of my maps, wanting it to be Chicken Spring lake. I had "bent the map" and mistaken a small, no-name lake on the way to be my destination. Once I had done this there was absolutely nothing I could do that would change my mind. If you were reading this in say, Los Angeles, and I told you that you were actually in Buffalo - you'd think I was crazy. But if you then looked outside your window and saw 3 feet of snow - you'd go "snap" and unbend your map.
We all have our maps, and maybe we don't usually bend them quite so dramatically as I did. Some of our maps are more important than others and some people have very important maps - the US President, for example. I happen to like his map but in a far-away land, with fatigue creeping into the body politic, and the evening of a presidential term coming upon him, I hope he doesn't "bend his map" and even if he does, I hope there is a welcome sight for him as he crests the ridge.
I was in the middle of a 3-day backpacking trip. Pre GPS - many maps to carry and I didn't quite have the segment of map for this particular stretch. Shouldn't matter, I thought, I had a good map for the stretch from the lake to the pass beyond - just not for this segment. My first mistake ...
What's this - the outlet from the lake already. I thought it was an hour and a half way. Hmm, must have made much better time than I thought. My second mistake ...
Ah, a good camp-site. I'll check out the lake in the morning. It should be just behind the rise there. The head of the cirque (where the glaciers once carved out this bowl) was distinct - just a little smaller than the topo map indicated and maybe a little askew. But this is definitely Chicken Spring lake ...
Wake up in the morning. Gorgeous scenery. Go over the rise and check out the lake. It's there alright - but mostly dry. Hmm.. the guide book never said anything about the lake itself being dry - only about the outlet stream. Good ! I have something juicy to post to the Sierra hikers bulletin board when I get home .... Not only is the outlet dry, but the lake itself is mostly mud. Perhaps the consequence of a drier than usual year. In the little community of us Sierra backpackers, information is a prized commodity, a modern day pot-latch of information giving, but without the waste.
The pass is only a half an hour away. Nice trail. Brisk walk - no fatigue after a good night's sleep. Home tonight.
Twenty minutes. Should be coming to the pass. The trail should rise to the crest of the ridge and cross over. Should be beginning a bit of a climb just about now .....
Twenty more minutes. Where is that *%$@ pass ? First signs of doubt. Did I miss it ? Was there supposed to be a side trail that I hadn't noticed ?
Ten more minutes. No pass! Yes panic! I am lost. What do all the books say? Stay calm (yeah right !). Stay still - don't make it worse by wandering farther. But I should go on, shouldn't I ? Maybe it's just a little bit ahead .... Ok. I'll walk on a bit more - but only because I'm confident I can backtrack to Chicken Spring lake and reverse my trip. That's going to add a whole extra day to the trip. There's going to be some explaining to do at home ...
What's that ? The trail is finally beginning to rise to the ridge line. About time !! Exhiliration begins to set in - displacing the panic. Last few steps up to the pass and I peer over to see .. Chicken Spring lake ! Bright, blue and full of water, with only a trickle on the outlet stream.
Snap !! A major reset. I have only now reached Chicken Spring Lake. Laughter in my mind and heart. I shout out to the sky - "The joke is on me."
What had happened ? As usual with these things a compounding of mistakes. Fatigue, inadequacy of my maps, wanting it to be Chicken Spring lake. I had "bent the map" and mistaken a small, no-name lake on the way to be my destination. Once I had done this there was absolutely nothing I could do that would change my mind. If you were reading this in say, Los Angeles, and I told you that you were actually in Buffalo - you'd think I was crazy. But if you then looked outside your window and saw 3 feet of snow - you'd go "snap" and unbend your map.
We all have our maps, and maybe we don't usually bend them quite so dramatically as I did. Some of our maps are more important than others and some people have very important maps - the US President, for example. I happen to like his map but in a far-away land, with fatigue creeping into the body politic, and the evening of a presidential term coming upon him, I hope he doesn't "bend his map" and even if he does, I hope there is a welcome sight for him as he crests the ridge.
posted by J. (Bob) Balaram at 9:04 AM
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