Looking South from Forester Pass Elevation 13,200'
John Muir Trail
Fr. Dale Matson
There any number of
things that one can do as a form of deep and extended play. All of us need
these avocations to help sustain and repair us. It is also possible to say that
many of these things could be metaphors for life itself. St. Paul used the metaphor of the runner and
the race as a means of describing the disciplined, dedicated and steadfast life
of the Christian.
“Pilgrim’s Progress” is
an allegory describing the journey of life with all of the trials and
tribulations of the Christian on a journey toward Heaven. Homer offered us “The
Odyssey” which is both a journey of exploration and a heroic effort to return
home. These journeys can bring a testing, overcoming and an occasional failure.
It is seeking and self-discovery too. It is also a way to carve a spot in the
ego to accommodate more humility, as we realize our limitations. It does not
automatically mean that the journey with the hardships and triumphs of the
pilgrim will form the pilgrim for the better. Swift’s Gulliver was embittered
by his travels.
John Muir a self-taught
naturalist, the founder and president of the Sierra Club, was an explorer and a
seeker. He fully understood the redemptive value for “civilized” humans introduced
to nature in general and the Sierra Nevada Mountains in particular. His goals
were to educate and introduce the civilized to his gospel of the wilderness.
For Muir, the wilderness was not only their elixir; it was their salvation. He
was an evangelist for and the high priest of the wilderness. He was also an
activist against careless exploitation of the wilderness. I believe he so
identified with the Sierra wilderness that he put aside his Christian roots and
viewed creation itself as God. He remained a spiritual man but not a religious
man.
The magnificent and
arguably the most beautiful trail in the world, was named in his honor. The
John Muir Trail (JMT) was the vision of another seeker, Theodore Solomons, who at
age 14 stood in a field near Fresno and envisioned a trail stretching along the
west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Many of the eight mountain passes on the JMT like
Mather, Muir, Pinchot and Forester are named for important men who helped make
the trail a reality. The Golden Staircase and Forester Pass in particular would
not be possible without extensive human sculpting of granite and the use of
dynamite. There are also bridges along the trail that affect the course of
creeks and rivers. Would the current leadership of the Sierra Club file legal
action against the construction of such a magnificent trail if it were proposed
today? What started as a flexible vision and a desire to share the wilderness
with others seems to have become a perceived obstructive legalism intended to
protect the environment from human encroachment and influence. There has been a
shift in the balance between human use and wilderness protection based on a
shift in the understanding of humans and their role on this earth.
Pack it in and pack it
out is the familiar refrain from those issuing wilderness permits for travel there. It is a good policy and a metaphor for life also. Our material
impact should be minimal. Backpacking is a great reminder of how little we
really need in life, even in the wilderness. Incarnate examples of this
minimalist life are the back country rangers, who are genuine monks of the
wilderness, welcoming and assisting the weary pilgrims.
John Muir loved both
wilderness and his fellow humans. His goal was to reacquaint modern society
members with the wilderness. This was the focal point of his activism and much
of his political lobbying. Also through his efforts, national park and
wilderness areas were set aside for this purpose and to protect these pristine
areas from commercial exploitation. It was intended as a kind of legacy to be
handed down to future generations to enjoy. Both Muir and Solomons were
visionaries more than legalists. Like evangelists they wanted to share their
discoveries with others and helped make that possible. I am only one of those beneficiaries
and indirectly share the trail and their journey with them. Muir, Solomons and
I are spiritual brothers on this trail. All are spiritual brothers and sisters
who have or will travel it too. The journey can be transformative.
Thanks to visionaries
like Muir, Solomons and others, I also have had the opportunity to experience
the wilderness and to discover the JMT in bits, pieces and chunks over the last
20 years. There are easy access points where
the trail runs close to roads in Tuolumne and Red’s Meadows, Whitney Portals
and Happy Isles. Florence Lake, Edison Lake, Happy Isles, Roads End require
more effort. There are also access trails to the JMT from the East side of the
Sierras that were originally “use trails” of Native Americans. Each of the passes on this trail culminates in
a moment of exhausted elation following the struggle against incline and
thinner air. Each time the admission price was worth the view. Isn’t overcoming
obstacles about gaining perspective anyway?
Like Muir, I have
Scottish blood and lived in Wisconsin. I ran on the ice age trails of the
Kettle Moraine area of S.E. Wisconsin, also named after Muir. Like Muir I came
to California and fell in love with the Sierra wilderness. Like Muir the
monastic side found peace in that wilderness. Each of the sections of the JMT
that I have completed holds special memories for me and serve as unique
benchmarks over the last 20 years of my lifes journey. Unlike Muir who was the high priest of the
wilderness, I am simply a priest who spends time in God’s wilderness.
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