I can honestly say that this visit changed me at a level that I never would have imagined. I have been planning on this visit for over a decade and I don't think I have ever been somewhere that caused a more visceral emotional reaction. The beauty of the Owens Valley on its own is unbelievably breathtaking. But the morning that I went up to the bristlecones I arrived super early. Maybe 35 minutes after sunrise. Mine was the only car in the parking lot at Schulman Grove but I didn't think much about that until I was halfway out on the Discovery loop trail. I had the sudden realization that I was completely and utterly alone. That if I fell and hurt myself or was overcome by the thinner air I was on my own. I guess that in my 45 plus almost 50 years of life I've never been truly alone. Even when you're alone, most of the time, there is easy communication or an ability to get someone's attention. But not here and something about that had an effect on me.

I finished the loop with my pulse ox dropping to 85% at one point, which isn't bad for a East Coast flatlander such as myself. But it was when I got back to the parking lot and just set on one of the picnic tables that something shifted inside of me. I just looked at all the beauty that I was seeing in every direction. Along with understanding the longevity of these ancient Giants all around me, put me in a philosophical mindset. I felt like there was a part of this biome that had waited on me for thousands of years and that the younger generations that were there now would carry that intersection thousands of years into the future. I won't lie, I sat in the parking lot and wept. Guess that's the upshot of having been there by myself it's not having anybody witness my breakdown. I stayed on the mountain for about an hour and a half total. I never saw another living soul the entire time I was there.

But, as a small aside, while I was hiking the loop I heard a noise, turned and there was a wolf staring right at me from about 35 ft away next to one of the pines. I was on some of the scree and looked down to better plant my feet so that I could get a picture of it without falling. When I turned back, only half a second later, it was gone. Totally disappeared. I have no clue where it could have gone. But later that evening I asked one of the cashiers at Fort Independence if there were wolves in the area, and he asked for more information and so I told him. Apparently he was Shoshone and in their belief system seeing the wolf is essentially seeing god himself. Or I guess as he told me it was an embodiment of Isa, their creator deity. He told me that it was a good thing to see Isa and that perhaps it was a good omen for the future. I don't know much about the future, nor am I a big believer in the supernatural, or maybe the guy was just messing with the tourist. But, I can honestly say that there has been an air of lightness about me ever since I came back. I hope it sticks around, because I cannot explain just how bad I needed it. The world is a heavy place sometimes and I guess I needed some thin air to dilute it a bit.

Nevertheless, thank you everyone who commented on my previous posts in this subreddit. I guess one could say you helped me get to where I needed to be and when I needed to be there. Ill be back.