Sun frees itself
From a golden sandbar
Of dawn clouds
And nests in a juniper tree.
I watch mosquitos
Gathering in the sun-painted
Cave
Of my open tent.
1 June 2012
Indian Well Camp
Lava Beds National Monument
4680'
For 15 years I led students on a five day field trip circling Mt. Shasta, spending two nights at Indian Well Camp in the Lava Beds. With its pumice underfoot and scatter scattered basalt, its aromatic scent of piñon and juniper and the dark, cool openings of lava tube caves nearby, the place has an atmosphere that swallows the banter and kinesthetic energy of students, particularly as night comes on, and I make one last sweep through camp, parents and students alike in tents, stars crowding dark sky in their absence. Drinking that darkness and quiet until dawn, watching the morning light fill the tent was always a gift, even the surprise of visiting insects in the vaulted ceiling of the tent.
Mountaineity 