hiking2christ

Just as the dark of evening fell, the clouds gave rain and sleet which soon changed to snow, coming in large matted flakes.  All through the long dark night it fell. Every peak and dome, every bench and tablet had their share of winter jewelry, as we our daily bread; and the nodding tassels of the pine, and the plumes of the Libocedrus, and the naked oaks share in the first precious gift of the winter sky, and blessed are the eyes that saw morning that open upon the glory accomplished in the first storm that night. In vain as I crossed the open meadow did I search for some special palpable piece  of beauty on which to rest my gaze, and on which, too, my mind might stop to gather ideas as from a text. But no such resting place appeared in the completed heaven of winter perfection.

-John of the Mountains. Pg. 38

–http://www.nationalparkreservations.com/info/yosemitewinter/index.php