Driving to Mnt Sheba and the “grand old lady” as the lodge is lovingly called… I was ready for a cold misty and wet hike… the wipers of the chevvy working overtime… the road soapy slippery… the pine trees looked like ghosts… just visible… phantoms in the earie dark… mysterious… the top of the mountain covered in a thick white blanket… I remember… there was no wind… breathless… me to… in anticipation of an adventure that awaits…winding down the narrow road… Mnt Sheba appears… covered in a dome of mist/clouds… clear… warm…tranquil…
135 years ago the Sheba gold reef was discovered… my destination for the day… exploring the old digging sites… I was ready to take a step back into a nearly forgotton past… 1885… using pics and showels miners dug for gold in the mountain at the bottom of a narrow valley…
Hiking to the river… the trail…a narrow winding snake down the valley… its so quite… no sound… no wind… nothing… just the far away the whisper of the river… calling you… taking you back in history… an invitations to let fo…they walked here… over a centuary ago someone else was feeling the peace… the solitude… seeing the breathtaking beauty… smelling the wild… the ground… the treas… the air.. a magical aroma… I am here… in the moment…
Crossing the river.. stepping slowly from rock to rock… my heart beats faster… I am looking at the entrance to the first site…just a dark hole in the green forest and mountain side… nothing spectacular… but the presence… the atmosphere… the memories… I freeze for a second… holding my breath… its silent… the rushing of the water calming… I soak in the moment… feeling free… I am about to live a part of history… I am ready… excited…
As I crawl into the dark tunnel… not very deep… I am struck by how low the roof was… and amazed that men dug this with no machinery… by hand… picks… shovels… hands rock for small rock… in search of gold… a future… a way out… I sat at the back of the digging… flash light off… darkness around me… and the trees and river framed by the dark rock at the opening… a magical moment… I wonder did they see the beauty around them… did they experience the awe… the peace… or were they ao consumed with the work at hand… the gleem.of gold all they can see…
Sitting in the opening of the last mine… way down in the valley… with a tin mug of hot coffee… tummy full… lunch was good… oats with cinamon and pieces of apple… I felt one with myself… one with mature… one with 1885… I was a miner… on a break… slowly becomming aware of the troop of samango monkeys playing in the trees nearby… I am still… no threat… boosting their confidence they frolicked in the low brancehs across the river… chasing each other over the rocks… like kids playing… I don’t move… I think I breath… coffee getting cold… I watch them in awe… two little black and white birds with wagging tails… jump from rock to rock… washing splashing in the river… little streams between the rocks… a big white butterfly dance around the small little bell shaped flower… I am in a picture… I capture the moment… sealing it in my mind…this is a special trail… this is why I hike… for moments like this…
The “old diggings” trail leaves you in awe… feeling new… refreshed and one with yourself…
#bergloper 