Dege Peak — Saturday, Sep. 2, 2023

You get what you get when you head to the mountain on a massive holiday weekend. I got to the trailhead at 5 a.m. with a whole lot of other people. The lot was over half-filled. Once on the initial path to everywhere, a gentleman stopped me to ask where a good spot to see the mountain was because he was going to propose. I turned and pointed to the moon-lit mountain and said, "There's the mountain right there. This is a good place." Big hopeful thoughts for them. I soon took a right off the main trail and headed up to Dege Peak. Despite the incredibly well-groomed trail, there were a lot of broken wildflowers strewn about all the way to the peak. My best guess is people not wanting to single file so they can talk. I had the peak for a good 5-10 minutes to myself before people started filing up to the smallish area. One young man was so excited by his picture of the mountain he appeared right next to me like he jumped there and showed me the picture on his phone. Two minutes later he got out his drone. Two seconds after it started buzzying I told him drones were not allowed in National Parks. He reluctantly and unhappily packed it away (but it seemed like he was just waiting for me to head down). On my way back, a huge party of people with lights sitting on a rock blinking red and blue like those police security lights in grocery store parking lots were standing around laughing and having a good ol' time. I was still debating whether I'd hit another trail when a girl stomped through the wildflowers, picked up a large rock, and was about to throw it over the edge. I pulled out my never-rusty mom/teacher voice when someone is about to get hurt, and told her no. Just no. It was decided. I was going to have a nice relaxing day at home and let everyone have at it on the mountain. A ranger was headed up that way when I was on my way out. The enthusiasm of the young man with his mountain picture on his phone I feel is at the heart of many of the people who go to the mountain but lose sight of or never realize the gift it is to be there. We are not the gift. The land and life that live there are. It's not gracious to trash it, shout at it, or dismiss it.