A High Sierra Difficulty:

My father always loved the mountains. He became active as a volunteer parent in our Boy Scout troop and would go with us on 50 mile backpack trips in the summertime. I must have been around 10 or 11 when I went on the first of these. I remember being very excited because I was finally allowed to go along with my older brother on a real adventure. The old photos show a ragged troop of gangly kids marching up the trail with three or four parents along as leaders. It was hard work climbing the passes, but the views were unlike anything I had ever seen – incredibly blue sky and stark granite crags. At night, we slept in thin sleeping bags laid over ground tarps. The sky at night was amazing! One night early in the trip, I woke up with pain in my abdomen. It was severe enough to give me quite a fright. Everyone was sleeping and it was very cold. I crawled over to where my Dad was sleeping and woke him up. Of course he was concerned but was also reassuring - I knew he would take care of me. He told me to use his sleeping bag since it was warmer than mine. I will never forget that bag of his - it was plush green cotton flannel with pictures of pheasant, and hunters - and it was incredibly heavy but very cozy and warm. He must have stayed with me until I was sleeping, then used my thin short bag the rest of the night. In the morning, the pain was gone, but the memory of that frightening night and my Dad's caring for me never faded. It was a guiding experience during my own parenthood experiences.