It was a dark, frigid night in the Yosemite Valley. My teeth chattered as we walked upon the trail, gazing at the magnificent beauty that lay ahead of us, our flashlights blinding our eyes.
“Listen up, everyone! I have a twist, a challenge for the group. Let’s hike the rest of this trail without talking or using our flashlight!.” exclaimed Julia, my group instructor.
“What… How?” mumbled the members of our large group, baffled by our leader’s strange instructions.
“But what if a bear comes and eats us?” a familiar voice asked. I couldn’t quite make out who it was, but I could tell others were thinking similar thoughts as well.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine.” Julia replied, as if she had been asked that question an infinite number of times.
And so we began and made our way through the pitch black forest. My vision adjusted to the darkness, and I could make out some faint outlines of the wilderness surrounding us. My friend nudged my elbow, and whispered, “Look up!” I glanced up, being careful not to bump into anyone.
What a sight I saw! The beautiful night sky seemed to ignite the whole world. The stars sparkled bright as diamonds, reflecting light in the most angelic ways. It had been so long since I had seen the stars so clearly, glowing through the darkness. Living in a big city was nice in its own ways, but you could never see such a beauty from just outside your house.
After craning my neck to its full extent, I focused back on hiking through the trail. The air was so fresh and clean, and I was finally starting to warm up.
Eventually, our group came to a gradual stop. Julia told us to look up at the sky, and we observed a straight line of three stars. She explained to the group that the line of stars was Orion’s belt, a small part of a larger constellation known as Orion, representing a fierce hunter chasing after an animal with his sword. Many traditions and Greek stories revolve around Orion.
Our leader guided us to turn around, and look at yet another cluster, consisting of seven main stars. This time, however, I knew exactly what she was talking about. “The Big Dipper!” students whispered throughout the group. I smiled, remembering how my family would tell me about the Big Dipper when we saw it from our car windows as we made our way home.
This time, the Big Dipper looked much different. It was so easy to make out, brightly igniting the picturesque sky around itself. Julia pointed out a very bright star known as Polaris, or the North Star, that could be easily found by looking at the Big Dipper. Polaris is used for navigation because it points directly to the North Pole.
“This is so fascinating,” I thought. “It’s amazing how the stories of constellations and traditions have been passed down for so long, and how people used to rely on the stars for so much in their everyday lives. ”
We started making our way back to camp, still awestruck by the amazing sights. The valley was breathtakingly beautiful at night, and the serene stillness of the forest cleared my mind.
That was undeniably a night I could never forget.
