“I can’t believe this is my first winter hike of this season,†stunned by the snow-buried mountain range, I soliloquized.
My mountains complained to me, “Why does it take so long for you to visit us?â€
“Yes, it has been too long,†I echoed.
It was winter, and Catskills in winter are always beautiful. Rocky and steep terrains in the Catskills earn them a good reputation, in which a 24-mile long trail is called the Devil’s Path. But, in winter, devils retreat from their playground and yield it to white angels, with whom we humans dance hand-in-hand on the soft and tender snow and our hearts are soon filled up with joy.
Saturday morning, we took off by dawn. The plan was to peak-bag Table and Lone and if possible, Rocky. We hiked in Phoenicia-East Branch Trail and turned onto Peekamoose-Table Trail. We were making good time and our spirits were high; who could have expected that first gate-watcher of the peaks was only several turns away?
It was the Neversink River. Neversink never sinks; even if the severe winter has frozen it by a couple feet from the banks, under the thin ice, the current keeps running day and night. Across the river, there laid two logs, one was inches below the other but together these two logs should serve as a bridge. They looked inviting yet malicious: Under the several inches of fresh snow, does it hide a layer of ice which is so slippery that we might trip and therefore are forced to terminate our journey?
A few of us managed to cross the river; we not only walked on the logs, but crawled with our hands and slid with our butts. The others searched up and down and finally spotted an opening pathway where the water was shallow enough. It took us good 30 minutes or longer, but at least our group was safe and dry. Shortly, the sun came to join us, as if a fairy swung her wand, the brightness of this new member energized us right up and we threw Neversink behind us.
Fresh snow bathed in the sunlight looked just delicious. On the ground there was pile after pile of granulated sugar. On the leafless branches, rock candies with mixed-fruit flavors reflected rainbow colors. Cotton candies fell on top of evergreens. Water ice was served on semicircle plates made of fungi and was waiting for you to put a cherry on top.
As we were approaching the summit of Table, through the cherry flower blossom, there was the clear sky, whose blue was so pure and transparent. I had a chance to break the trail for a while. The snow was powdering and deep which made breaking trail a challenging and tiring job, but in return I got to enjoy the widest and freshest view and it was magnificent. I looked around; with this blue, with this white, I wondered whether I was in fact floating with ocean waves, otherwise how could I witness this sand beach and watch all the corals swimming in the sea?
We bushwhacked to the summit of Lone from the col between Table and Peekamoose. It was almost 3 o’clock which meant we had no time to collect Rocky. We shot toward northwest and descended swiftly to the Neversink. Pushing ourselves pretty hard like marching a troop, we hiked along the riverbank and gladly we stepped back on Peekamoose-Table Trail before sunset.
The moon accompanied us for the last one and half miles, and we were back to the trailhead. It was a long trip: we were on our snowshoes for almost 11 hours. Everybody was tired and starving but everybody was excited and fulfilled. This trip, just as one of the crew said, “How can we find a better day?â€
望著層層被白雪覆蓋的山巒,我喃喃自語:「ä¸æ•¢ç›¸ä¿¡ï¼Œé€™æ˜¯æˆ‘入冬以來第一次的雪鞋å¥è¡Œï¼Ÿã€
彷彿耳邊è½åˆ°å±±æž—絮絮地抱怨:「怎麼éŽæ€Žéº¼ä¹…æ‰ä¾†çœ‹æˆ‘們?ã€
「真的是太久了啊。ã€æˆ‘楞楞地回應著。
這就是冬天。冬天的Catskills總是美麗的。雖說她的嚴峻和多岩地勢,讓許多人é²ç–‘ä¸å¾€ï¼Œå…¶ä¸ä¸€æ¢24英哩長的æ¥é“,甚至為其賺å–「惡é”之路ã€çš„åè²ã€‚但,當冬天一起,鬼精éˆçš„惡é”們將這éŠæˆ²å ´è®“給白天使,人們於是å¯ä»¥å’Œå¤©ä½¿æ‰‹ç‰½æ‰‹åœ°ä¸€èµ·å¬‰æˆ²ï¼Œåœ¨ä¸€ç‰‡ç™½èŒ«èŒ«ä¸ï¼Œå¾—到æ¡æ¬£å’Œå–œæ‚…。
星期å…早晨,在第一線曙光之å‰ï¼ŒéšŠä¼å°±å‡ºç™¼äº†ã€‚計畫è¦ç™»ä¸ŠTableå’ŒLoneçš„å±±é ‚ï¼Œå¦‚æžœå¯èƒ½ï¼Œå†æ”»ä¸ŠRockyã€‚æœƒé †è‘—Phoenicia-Eastæ¥é“,銜接上Peekamoose-Tableæ¥é“。一直到兩個æ¥é“äº¤æœƒè™•ï¼Œä¸€åˆ‡éƒ½å¾ˆé †åˆ©ï¼ŒéšŠä¼çš„精神很高昂,å»ä¸çŸ¥é“幾個æ‹å½Žä¹‹å¾Œï¼Œå±±å³°çš„å®ˆé–€å“¡å·²æº–å‚™å¥½çµ¦æˆ‘å€‘ä¸€å ´éœ‡æ’¼ã€‚
那是Neversink River,河如其å,永ä¸æ²ˆã€‚就算嚴酷的冬å£ï¼Œä¹Ÿåªèƒ½å¾žæ²¿å²¸å‡å‡ºä¸€å…©è‹±å°ºçš„冰,å»ï¼Œåœ¨é‚£å±¤è–„薄的冰下,河æµé‚„是ä¸åœåœ°å‘å‰å¥”æµï¼Œä¸æ¨æ™å¤œã€‚河上æ著兩段圓木,高低ä¸å¹³ï¼Œå‹‰å¼·å¯ä»¥åšç‚ºæ©‹æ¨‘,åªæ˜¯é€™æ©‹æ¨‘似乎ä¸æ‡·å¥½æ„,讓隊ä¼æœ‰äº›çŒ¶è±«ã€‚會ä¸æœƒåœ“木上那幾å‹çš„ç©é›ªä¸‹ï¼Œæš—è—滑ä¸æºœæ‰‹çš„冰,ç‰è‘—讓隊ä¼æ‘”入河æµï¼Œè¢«è¿«é£è¿”?
幾個人勇敢嘗試,腳用走的,手用爬的,å±è‚¡ç”¨æºœçš„,å°å¿ƒç¿¼ç¿¼åœ°éŽäº†æ²³ã€‚其他的人沿著河岸上下游地æœå°‹ï¼Œä¹Ÿå¥½ä¸å®¹æ˜“勉強找到一æ¢æ°´æ·ºçš„通路。為了éŽé€™æ²³ï¼ŒéšŠä¼èŠ±äº†ä¸‰å分é˜ä¹Ÿä¸æ¢ï¼Œè‡³å°‘大家都安全,也沒沾濕,ä¸æœƒè‘—æ¶¼ã€‚é™½å…‰ä¸€æœƒå…’ä¹ŸåŠ å…¥äº†è¡Œåˆ—ï¼Œåƒæ˜¯ä»™å¥³èˆžå‹•é”法棒,燦爛的陽光將眾人çŒæ»¿äº†æœæ°£ï¼ŒNeversink也早已拋到腦後。
陽光下的新雪看起來å¯å£çš„ä¸è¡Œã€‚å¹³é‹ªåœ¨åœ°è¡¨çš„æ˜¯ä¸€å±¤ä¸€å±¤çš„ç´°ç²’ç™½ç ‚ç³–ã€‚å›ºçµåœ¨æž¯æ¨¹æžä¸Šçš„雪是冰糖的çµæ™¶ï¼Œä¸ƒå½©çš„é¡è‰²ï¼Œæ˜¯ä¸åŒçš„æ°´æžœå£å‘³ã€‚å¸¸ç¶ å–¬æœ¨ä¸Šå †ç©è‘—一團一團的棉花糖。樹幹間長出的硬化的蕈類,端著一盤盤的刨冰,è¦ä½ 淋上百香果糖漿,å†æ”¾å¹¾é¡†æ–°é®®è‰èŽ“。
在往Table攀爬的路上,往上看去,彷彿是é‡ç–Šçš„桃æŽèŠ±é–‹ï¼Œè¥¯è‘—的是天空湛è—的背景。那時,我有機會擔任å‰é‹’開路的工作,在雪深åˆæ–°é®®ç¶¿è»Ÿçš„情æ³ä¸‹ï¼Œå‰é‹’é–‹é“是一件艱難累人的工作,但我得以欣賞第一手的美景,也有最廣闊的視野。我環顧四周,這湛è—ã€é€™ç´”白,我疑心我是ä¸æ˜¯æ£æµ®èººåœ¨å¤§æµ·ä¸Šï¼Œæ‚ æ‚ åœ°äº«å—日光浴。è¦ä¸ç„¶ï¼Œæˆ‘怎麼會有怎麼純白的沙ç˜ï¼Ÿå’Œé€™éš¨è™•å¯è¦‹çš„白çŠç‘šï¼Ÿ
從Tableå’ŒPeekamooseå…©å±±é ‚ä¹‹é–“çš„å‡¹è°·ï¼ŒéšŠä¼å‡ºç™¼å¾€Lone行進,這段é“è·¯ä¸æ˜¯åœ¨æ¥é“ä¸Šï¼Œå¿…é ˆè‡ªå·±æŽŒæ¡æ–¹å‘。雪很深,æ¥æ¥è‰±é›£ï¼Œåˆ°äº†Loneå±±é ‚å·²ç„¶æ˜¯ä¸‹åˆä¸‰é»žï¼Œæ²’有時間在å†ä¸‹ä¸€åº§å±±é ‚Rockyå‰é€²ï¼Œå¿…é ˆæ‰“é“回府。於是眾人往西北方快速下é™ï¼Œæ’¤é€€åˆ°Neversinkçš„å—岸。隊ä¼èµ°å¾—很快,我們終於在日è½ä¹‹å‰ï¼Œå›žåˆ°Peekamoose-Tableæ¥é“上。
月光伴著隊ä¼èµ°å®Œæœ€å¾Œä¸€åˆäºŒåˆ†ä¹‹ä¸€è‹±å“©çš„行程。這是很長的一天,我們總共花了å一個å°æ™‚在雪鞋上。眾人是åˆé¤“åˆç´¯ï¼Œå»ä¹Ÿåˆèˆˆå¥®åˆå……滿了æˆå°±æ„Ÿã€‚也許,這次的行程,就åƒä¼™ä¼´èªªçš„「還能找到比今天更好的一天嗎?ã€
if you want to see more photos:
http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~szuting/photos/snowshoeing_table_lone/
(this link will expire)
åŒæ¨£èº«è™•é›ªåœ‹
地çƒå¦ä¸€ç«¯çš„景色å»æ˜¯æˆªç„¶ä¸åŒ
真是美
我倒是還沒有看éŽæ—¥æœ¬çš„雪呢,
è€æ˜¯æƒ³åŽ»ï¼Œå€’是真的。
Szu-ting, I really enjoyed reading this!
Thanks, Bill.
And thank you for leading the trip! I truly enjoyed it as you can see from my log. 🙂
ultram er ultram er