Our hiking team consists of mostly empty-nested parents, whose kids are either away at college or at work. When I first joined in, it had about six team members. We start at 6:30 am in the mornings, summer or winter. Getting up early could be a pain after a weeklong work. But it is the early bird that gets the worm. As early risers, we are rewarded with numerous glorious sunrises, the splendid scenes of sunrays bursting out of thick clouds, patching the sky in seconds with the golden speckles. Come winter season, when 6:30 am in the morning could be as dark as night. I remember that I see the city beneath glittering in peace. Down below on the freeway one direction streams with yellow lights, and the other flowing like silvery light rivers. Before long dawn cracks and the sky turns white, basking us in the morning pristine mist. Those views will never be available to us, had we been asleep in bed like late risers.
The city we live is a valley as a matter of fact, besieging a modern city with sprawling nature before it opens itself further to the sea. The closest trail we find is nestled next to Quail Hill, about ten- or fifteen-minutes drive away from where we live, a trail we repeatedly trek upon. We call it our “base field” (gengjudi) or “Old trail”(lao lu). It is said to be connected to the sea at the end of trail as our two pioneers made it once or twice, and of course I was not among them. But I did succeed in reaching to the sea on another trail, a total of 12.4 miles, on May 9 2015, the day before Mother’s day, with a team of about ten people. It was an unforgettable day. We started our ascent from the lower valley. As we reached the peak sweltering and breathless, the wind from the seaside soothingly refreshed us, and the view was stunning. Not far to the left, the undulating mountains are seamed by the rugged ridges. On the right, red-roofed houses huddle among the green. Turn to the middle, at the end of our sight, placid sea surface meets the skyline, azure and shimmering in the sun, dotted with a lone white sail. On the back of us, a highway cuts through the mountain. Then a winding trail takes us down to the sea. As we hike downhill and get closer to the sea, we are like hikers out of a desert sighting an oasis. When we finally set our foot on the soft sand beach, embraced by the caressing breeze, listening to waves lapping rhythmically against the tall cliffs, we feel like walking in a paradise.
回复 '7grizzly' 的评论 : Hi, my friend, Thank you for your comment. The English version was actually written quite some time ago, with quite some revisions though (the Chinese one was just written). I need to change this sentence a bit later."Down below on the freeway one direction streams with yellow lights, and the other flowing silvery light rivers."
You mean, running to the sea? Will see:) Have a nice weekend!
