Backpacking in Big Bend National Park – the inexplicable

Sometimes surrealistic things happen – inexplicable by the everyday mind. I am guessing it's a combination of timing, the energy of who is present, and the energy of the locale … and who knows what else. What I do know is that the combination of Clark, David and me seemed long-time-familiar, an easy camaraderie that did not reflect the 'we-just-met' time frame. I meshed easily with their long-term friendship, the gender issue seemingly non-existent (maybe due to my having been a tom-boy as a kid, loving hunting and fishing with my dad). For whatever reasons, we clicked as a trio, we clicked as explorers of the land – we clicked, period.

At one point, we were all dusty and tired and were resting on a big rock by a dry river bed. I had a mental flash of a short video of 3 guys being pursued by a gang (felt like a posse), and I 'saw' the river running full, and the desperados taking their boots off (no socks) and cooling their feet in the water, safe for the moment. I  mentioned this image to Clark and David (a measure of my connection to them). I hadn't mentioned the 'no socks' part of the image … but Clark mentioned the worn out boots and the no socks, and the lathered horses (which I hadn't seen, but had 'felt/smelled/sensed') … hmmmm. Very interesting.

At another point in our mountain meandering, we came across a small rock foundation that looked like it had once been someone's home. Nature had smoothed it over, so that all that remained was a square of stones on a flat piece of land, surrounded by grass.  Another mental flash – a 30-ish woman, leaning on a hoe, smiling welcomingly, house and vegetable garden in the background. I could 'see' it how it used to be – or at least seemingly so. 

Maybe it was an over-active imagination, maybe it was a glimpse into the past, maybe it was something else altogether. Who knows? I don't. I only know that I enjoyed that whole experience and that I felt "tuned in" to the camaraderie and to the the place and to the moment.

PS  I've not been back to Big Bend since, nor have I seen Clark or David (now 30~ years ago). Clark saw me on facebook and we friended a few days ago – that's what reminded me about all this. From Clark, I learned that David has since died, and Clark has moved out of state. Amazing these profound, and yet ephemeral, connections that can seem inconsequential on the surface, and yet imprint our experience forever.