Mount Seymour

What a fabulous idea! Having passed through the roller coaster of experiences of the year 2014, the idea to wrap it up with a snowshoeing adventure in Canada looked beyond spectacular. Masha and I had known each other for a few month by then and we clearly weren’t to run out of topics for conversation throughout the trip. Led by Gene, a Vancouver local and a family friend of Masha, our hike to Seymour Mountain turned into a memorable and breathtakingly beautiful journey into the depth of winter.

From the very beginning the hike promised to be full of discoveries. The glittering mounts of snow lured us to wonder quietly and find treasures concealed behind every hill, in every opening beyond thick rows of firs.

When I am in natural surroundings drastically different from the ones I have been accustomed to in my ordinary life, my whole being relishes every moment. Anything we see has a potential to inspire beautiful associations, whether it is a curve of a frozen creek, a dazzling glitter of a snow hill, or a beryl blue sky. The snowy trail lit up by the sun all of a sudden brought to my mind Pushkin’s “Under Blue Skies”… while a cluster of small pine trees coated by the snow reminded me of old wise monks bent over their ancient books.

Further up the trail, once we reached the First Lake, a memory of Peter Bruegel the Elder’s “Winter Landscape” came to be revived. The views of nature were such that I felt momentarily within the painting… I witnessed the magic of comprehension and relatedness across time and space as in that moment the memory of the painting’s aura found itself mirrored in the direct experience of life.

Once we reached the rocky outcrop, the stunning view of North Vancouver opened up below. Looking around, we saw landscapes of immense beauty. Certain things we can never buy, we can not own or even touch them. What we can is to admire and store them in our memory as they are sublime yet intangible gifts, which our world is so abundant with.