Jim and Emily
It was somewhere beyond Muir Pass above 11,000 feet. Jim Hurley and I were ahead of our backpacking foursome. I was struggling through stubborn snowfields, and Jim was dancing across them as if he were performing on Broadway.
Then, suddenly, he dropped his backpack and raced halfway up a granite slope covered with snow. Using his poles as a downhill racer, he skied on his boots, whooping with delight. People 300 yards away were cheering.
That's Jim Hurley, a 27-year-old kid filled with daring, spunk and confidence. Showing off? Oh, yeah, and that rubs some people the wrong way. He can come across as brash if you don't know him. At 27, I did too. But, truth is, this guy is loving life and living it large. The more I learned about him, the more I liked him.
The Visalia native, an experienced backcountry traveler, is here to have fun yet he is quite serious about watching over Emily "Emma" Franciskovich to make sure she is safe. Emma, 27, another Visalia native who knows the backcountry, also is filled with life, compassion and charm. Her good times are just as good as Jim's, but they are lower wattage.
Just mention the words "sky pilot" to her, and she's ready to talk on and on about precious flowers that bloom above 10,000 feet for only several weeks a year. The sky pilot is such a flower.
I am 25 years older than they are. They became like my children on this trip. We were all raised in the San Joaquin Valley, and we share a rich upbringing of discipline and hard work. Jim builds the camp fires, Emma pumps water through the water filter. They both constantly offer assistance and courtesy. As the father of three children, I notice.
"We're having fun when everyone is having fun," Jim keeps saying. "If someone isn't enjoying this, we're not enjoying it." I never told him that his philosophy sounded perilously co-dependent, but that's because I was loving the luxury of sitting around nice camp fires that I didn't have to build.
They both went to Redwood High School in Visalia. They chatter all day about the past and the future. You would think this is love in bloom. I didn't really see that. After spending eight days and seven nights around them, I think it is a powerful Platonic affection.
Jim is going to San Francisco to become a real estate lawyer. Emma might become a schoolteacher. They've finished impressive education with graduate degrees. It may take them years to find their way in the world 10,000 feet below the alpine lakes of the High Sierra. But, up here, they don't need any more training or soul searching. They have arrived as human beings. Somebody did a good job raising these two Valley kids.
This entry was written Aug. 25 on the trail but published after returning to Fresno.
Comments
A Friend and I are planning to trek the whole 211 miles of the John Muir Trail in the Spring of 2007. Where do I find out about food drop locations?
We will be taking many, many pictures. Possibly would the Bee be interested in a trip detailed with pictures and text describing the entire journey?
Posted by: Craig Kaup | November 29, 2006 12:29 PM
They aren't that good of kids, I grew up with them. Hang in there guys. I'm sitting in my cubicle wishing I was there. Have fun!
P.S What are you guys crazy!
Joey
Posted by: Joey Harley | August 30, 2006 11:07 AM
We should all be so lucky as to have such attentive and responsive "kids" in our lives. Mine both live in the San Joaquin Valley with lovely wives, beautiful children, (I'm somewhat biased on that one) productive jobs and a love for their Mother and me. Lucky? Maybe. Blessed? Yes indeed.
Posted by: Yosemite Dan | August 30, 2006 08:15 AM