letter to a friend in the stanislaus

i wrote this letter to a dear friend who has returned to the stan for another year of trail work. the hard part about letters is that you can pour your heart out, but then you have to send it off. i'd like to remember these thoughts that i'm sending to the professor, the philosopher, my dear friend and trails brother. it goes like this:

two years ago this weekend, i took my first trip to relief reservoir with you, ice, justin, renae, amanda, gage and kip. i think you and i both woke up early to meditate--remember that camp we found because it got too dark to keep hiking? well, i'm hoping you're having a grand time in our mountains.

i miss them every day.

sometimes i try to recreate

backcountry like eating oatmeal

just after dawn or using

my daypack, just because

i can, or walking a really

long way, because after

backcountry, everything's

just a short walk. i went

to a beautiful park called

Stony Brook in New York,

and it had waterfalls and

huge gorges. It's

just amazing. But

nothing can compare to

the first day we saw

Upper Relief Valley, or

those waterfalls at the

old BC camp. Or the

sun set over Emigrant

Lake. I still have my

dream catcher made

from the willows of

our meadow. I don't

think it catches dreams,

it just keeps my

backcountry dreams

safe. to think about

on a rainy day.

i miss you, o,

and the mountains and

rivers and trails and

the resounding "Yes!"

that we said to life.

Take care of the Stan.

Love,

Emily