Years of Poems and Spirits

It is getting too late … but want to keep the following thoughts:
I was listening to Diane Rhem while hiking up Mailbox Peak, heard couple stories that triggered the following thoughts:
1. What’s the difference between a documentary film maker and a propagandist? The story was about Leni Riefenstahl. NYKr also had a profilt/book review on her recently. Some people are still very upset and called her a criminal. But really, what was she? A propagandist or a film maker? Did she make up anything in Triumph of Will that did NOT happen in the summer of 1934 Nuremberg? As far as I can recall, it is a silent movie so there can’t be any misleading statement. Isn’t this all about interpretation (i.e. presentation of “reality”)? Knowledge is never only a collection of factual truth, but how they are related and organized. No documentary film maker is not a story-teller. The same can be said about a propagandist.
2. Turkey: the secular and the religous conflicts. I was just wondering: how can a paternalistic and authoritative institution as the military safeguarding secular democracy? Kemal Ataturk apparently didn’t trust either the efficacy of democracy or the nature of Turkish people, so he decided to use state violence as the final guarantee. This is kind of unique and strange, I suddenly realized. Nevertheless, living in an increasingly religious and moralistic America, the Turk’s faith in secularism is both refreshing and admirable.

Just came back from Mailbox Peak today. The picture shows me putting my Managerial Accounting final into one of the two mailboxes. It is one of the most challenging trails I’ve done so far: 3 miles and 4,000 feet gain. Only the second lag of Tuck and Robin and the Enchantments (how soon will I go back there …) are comparable but neither is nearly as long. I am happy to report that I was able to reach the peak in 2 hours 17 minutes: better than I planned.

Snow level is around 3,200 feet level. So I was caught in a small snow storm briefly. The trail was easy to follow but pretty muddy and slippery. Because three quarters of the trails was in pretty dense forest, the mud and the exposed tree roots made the descent an constant “balancing act”: It took me an hour and 50 minutes to come down. Nevertheless, the mud and dense foliage on the ground really saved my knees.

The trail splits several times along the way but I believe they all rejoin in the end. A friend in B school, Ryan, told me to look for trees with spraypainted marks. It really helped. The trail head was the easiest to miss: it was off a logging road. Even if you paid attention, you’d think it leads to a potty or something. But there are so many people on the trail (I met at least a dozen groups, everyone I asked was a first-timer), I was able to follow someone.

Two weeks ago, I went to Snow Lake. Always my favorite trail. I think I have been there in every month of a year now (except November maybe?) But when I arrived, I was surprised to find out the trail was still snow-covered. The snow is wet and hallow and the trail is difficult to follow in the woods. I was almost lost less than 500 feet into the trail.

I pressed on once I got used to the condition. Up on the hill, right under the ridge, the snow was thin enough that I could make out the trail in summer. So I took a shortcut and kickstepped my way to the ridge instead of following the winter route above Source Lake. It was a very fun experience indeed.

I only spotted two people in the entire trip. I had the whole thing pretty much to myself. The surrounding was beautiful but reassuring–in the sense that it does not “awe” you but is rather intimate. Very enjoyable.