#rivertosea

1. “From: The River

To: The Sea”

2. “You cannot build a holy land on the mass graves of children”

3. “Stop using my taxpayer money to fund Israel with weapons to kill children”

4. “You said all lives matter”

5. “There comes a time when silence is betrayal”

6. “Stop calling it a conflict…it’s literally a genocide. The irony of becoming what you once hated”

I will share some Nature photos and a story of how nature and a hiking trip, that caused me to nearly fall to my death while being lost with a looming mountain storm building in the sky above was the beginning of my love of photography. By nature I am an artistic person. I love creating something beautiful and I love the creative process. Photography is just one of the main ways I choose to express that part of my soul. I have loved photography since I was a little girl. I remember going on a church Camping trip at the age of 12 or 13. My mom packed two disposable fuji cameras in my bag and you better believe I used both rolls of film to completion. Sadly those 2 rolls of film were damaged and I never got to see the photos I had captured. I can still remember one specific snap shot vividly in my mind. I had chosen to join the group of counselors and campers who dared to attempt the 7 peaks hike. The most strenuous activity of the entire week long trip. We left camp at 6 am after having breakfast from the dutch oven and began our day trip of hiking over 7 mountain peaks before returning to the camp in the evening. This hike was a regular for the councilors. Each set of campers who came through the camp was given the option of joining in on the hike.  This particular 7peaks hike did not go as it should. Still it is where I fell in love with photography and is yet another moment in my life that has shaped me.

The group was small, consisting probably of 10 to 12 girls and 3 councilors. As we set off that morning it was still dark and the air was slightly damp from dew settling all around us. About half way to the first summit the sun began to rise and kiss with golden light, the dew that had collect on the forest floor. As we reached the top of that first crest the forest opened in to a grassy hillside with fields of mountain lilac and wild flowers rolling out in front of us. I was captivated by the beauty. I felt so alive and free. As a teen who was normally in turmoil I felt such joy and peace in this place and I wanted to capture that moment to save it forever in the only way I knew how. I pulled out my little disposable fuji Camera and snapped several picture from different angles trying with all my might and limited knowledge of photography to capture the beauty of that moment. The light dancing across the field in all it’s golden deliciousness was tantalizing to me and needed to be shared. Little did I know at the time that those snap shots would never be seen and that the true beauty of the moment had already captured my heart and would stay with me for years to follow.

We paused at this beautiful scene for a short while but I can remember clearly not wanting to move on from this field of flowers. I was the last to fall in line as the group hiked back on to the trail. We hiked over the top of the peak and down into the valley and proceeded to crest the next two peaks. The scenery had changed from grassy knolls laden with flowers to craggy terrain with little to no ground cover. We had just Paused at the peak of the third mountain and ate our lunch. As we sat giggling and joking, the counselors explained we were at the highest point of our trip. Some where near 10,000 feet elevation. From that point we could see the two main canyons enjoyed by the locals. After enjoying our lunch and a breathtaking 360 degree view, we started our descent from the third peak. Each girl took the broad ridge with sheer drop offs to either side carefully. Following the footstep of the girl in front of her, this was not an area you would want to take a misstep in. We all were watching our steps closely. The two girls in front of me took there steps and as they did I noticed the rock the group was utilizing to make our way down was becoming loose. I made a mental note to be very cautious when making that step. However, no amount of caution prevented the next moment. The moment I trusted the rock with my full weight it gave way. I went tumbling down the path rolling head over heal out of control down the ridge, finally coming to a halt inches from the cliff. I remember commotion as I tumbled but it wasn't until I realized my resting place that it made since.The counselors ran to me while my heart raced and I sat there in shock at the realization of what just happened. My shins and knees were cut up but beyond that i was just shaken.

The camp counselors patched me up and let me recover for a few minutes before we quickly moved on. I distinctly remember being nauseated for a good portion of the next leg of the trip. I think the shock of the moment had cause an unsettling in my gut. I don't think it was until later however, that I realized how close I was to death. The next peak proved to be a dangerous turn in the trip that ultimately lead me to the next heart pumping moment. As we reached the summit of the fourth peak a bank of clouds rolled in over us. Each hiker clung to the hiker in front of them to avoid getting lost in the thick fog. We inched our way over the peak swallowed up in the murky haze. The descent was slow because of the low visibility, but we finally came down out of the clouds. It wasn't until we had reached the bottom that the leader of the group and the other three councilors realized their error. They did not know where they were. In the confusion of the impenetrable mist they had come down off the mountain in the wrong direction. We were on a narrow ridge between two mountains one of them unfamiliar and the other swallowed by the mist. With valleys on either side of us. We were lost! we couldn't go back the way we came the mountain was covered in clouds that had only become more dense. go back would most like result in us to becoming even more lost. The 3 councilors  talked among themselves before deciding where they would lead us.

They gathered us all together and gave us our marching orders. I was second or 3rd in line as the leading councilor lead us out onto the unfamiliar mountain onto a crumbling ledge no wider than my size 8 foot. With a sheer wall at our front to cling to and hundreds of feet of sheer cliff to our backs, there was no room for error. We were single file four or five girls deep out on the ledge when the wall started to crumble under the counselors feet. She looked back at us in horror and with clear panic in her voice she ordered us to back up. “Get off the ledge! get of the ledge now!” The precarious ledge was riddled with loose rock and each step was a slippery one. one by one we inched backward hoping beyond reason that we would all make it off that terrifying ledge. One by one we did, each and everyone of us. The councilors were at a loss we couldn't go back and the only way forward was a death trap. We sat on the side of that mountain trapped with a storm starting to build overhead. It was starting to become apparent to everyone on the trip that we were in trouble. At last one of the counselors had an epiphany. We needed help and our only option which should have been our first option was to pray.