The Source

There is nothing more enjoyable than a good, solid hike. No matter how long or how difficult the hike is, it promises to offer beauty in its natural form. My parents invited me to join them at their Snowbird timeshare this past weekend, which presented me with an opportunity to explore nature in an area that I’m comfortably familiar with. Though I’ve hiked the Snowbird area countless times, each new hike offers new discoveries.
My brother, his friend, my brother-in-law, and I set out from the Cliff Lodge and headed up. Straight up. We were full of energy and enthusiasm, and we had a waterfall in our sights that needed some attention and love. Halfway to the waterfall we realized that the vegetation was not going to let us just waltz up to the waterfall’s base. So we started to zig and zag. By the time we reached the waterfall, we were a little tired. And we hadn’t quite traversed an eighth of the distance that we had planned.
After resting at the waterfall and taking pictures, we had regained some energy, which was necessary if we didn’t want to return to the Cliff Lodge right away. The area around the waterfall presented us with a dilemma, because if we wanted to continue up the mountain, the shortest distance was directly up a steep, rocky incline. It wasn’t quite a cliff, but close. Rather than walk back down and around the obstacle, we tackled it. We were feeling pretty good about ourselves…until our water ran out.
Besides the physical strength and energy required while hiking, a person also needs water. Lots of it. Well, more than just twelve ounces per person anyway. We had set out to dominate Hidden Peak, and a waterfall and its cliff friend had shown us how foolish we were to try such a thing with the little water we had.
There are times when nature throws man’s weakness right in his face. There are other times when a man’s indomitable spirit slaps down nature’s lame attempt at foiling his plans. This was one of those times. We followed the stream at the top of the waterfall until we overcame our fear of giardia. It didn’t take long because the thirst and desire to reach our goal seemed more important than a little parasite that could do some serious damage to our social lives.
The cool, crisp mountain water quickly rejuvenated our bodies and we were on our way again. We joked as we walked about coming around a bend and finding a dead moose smack dab in the middle of the stream we had just drank out of. We also talked about where all the water was even coming from. My brother’s friend knew that it was coming from somewhere higher up than where we were, but he didn’t realize that it was actually coming from the melting snow in the higher elevations. As we approached a field of snow with water gushing from the bottom of it, we were face to face with the source of the water that had reenergized us an hour before.
It was then that I realized just how impure mountain water could be. The snow was covered in dirt, branches, rocks, animal tracks, human tracks, etc. Despite the clearness of the water downstream where we originally drank from, we really didn’t know what was in it. I’m pretty sure we’re stupidly lucky that none of us has been glued to a toilet seat for the last few days. I will be purchasing some water purifying tablets before my next big hike, that’s for sure. And taking plenty of water that I know is safe for consumption. And following a well-worn path. We may have beat nature this time around, but I know there will be confrontations in the future, and if I’m not prepared, nature won’t hesitate to exploit any of my weaknesses and try to kill me.