Zen of Hiking: Old Man Under the Tree
A chance encounter leads to some self-reflection for one hiker.
Last year while hiking in the Los Angeles area, I noticed something peculiar off the main trail—a broken version of the American dream.
It started when I saw some rocks arranged in a row off the main path. At first, I thought the carefully placed stones were some sort of clue leading to a Geocache location. Following the markings, I came across a couple of branches oddly placed on top of one another, as if someone had tried to construct a gate.
I took a few steps back to search for more clues and suddenly it dawned on me what I was looking at. It was some sort of abstract version of the “white picket fence,” only the fence was made of rocks and the gate was fashioned from the dead branches of a native oak—a primitive homage to the American dream, I thought. How clever.
Upon further inspection, I noticed the structure didn’t end at the gate. Continuing past the rocks and a thicket of shrubs, I discovered that this was no mere statement on the wilderness ideal of happiness, this was actually someone’s home.
The ragged canvases of several tents, bedding and other fabrics were strewn together under the canopy of a large oak tree. Torn and old, it was hard to tell if the makeshift structure was abandoned or was still in use. My curiosity got the best of me and I edged closer to the camp.
A tree next to the tent structure had what appeared to be a honeycomb within a hollowed portion of its body, and some sort of glass jar tied with a string was hanging from the wood. The jar’s interior emanated a golden hue, as if filled with honey or sap from the tree.
I was amazed; whoever had constructed this structure was somehow harvesting something from this tree. As I moved closer to the tent structure, I felt someone watching me from inside. Although the structure had a few holes, it was too dark inside to see who, or if anyone, was there.
“Hello, anybody home?” I called out but no one answered. I drew closer but by this time my curiosity had morphed into fear. What if this homeless person was crazed? What if he comes out waving some sort of broken glass bottle? I’m a pretty a decent sized guy but you can’t intimidate or rationalize with someone who is severely mentally unstable.
But for some reason, I kept drawing closer.
I reached around into my backpack and grabbed my camera, and just as I snapped my photo a shriek-like growl emanated from inside of the structure—I froze. Backing away slowly while facing the makeshift home, I moved back on the main trail and away from the camp.
Still excited from the burst of adrenaline, I called a colleague who I worked with at the time, and asked if we should try to further contact the person in the tent to perhaps tell his story. He said maybe we should call the authorities and find out if he is even allowed to stay on the land, which was technically just open space owned by the county.
In other words, we would have reported the person in the process of doing the article and perhaps forced him out of his home. Before I could protest, he hung up and called our superiors for some ethical direction.
Luckily, our boss at the time, a more experienced journalist than the both of us combined, told us to let the poor man be. He hadn’t hurt anybody, he said, and we weren’t in the business of making news, just reporting it. He will probably never know this but I gained a lot of respect for my boss because of that decision. I think we both did.
Several days later, while hiking the general area, I noticed a very old frail homeless looking man heading toward the direction of the camp I had discovered. My gut told me that this was the man who made the makeshift mountaintop home.
I still hike the area around the old man’s camp, ironically located not too far from some multimillion dollar mansions, and to this day I still see him around on occasion. I think of him often, especially when it rains. I wonder how he is faring. Is he cold? Is he hungry?
Sometimes when I’m overworked, stuck behind a computer as the hours of the day go by, very far from nature and struggling toward my own version of the American dream, I think of the old man sitting under his oak tree, eating honey and enjoying his view from his mountaintop, and I can’t help but wonder—which one of us is truly crazy?
R Terry
9:15 am on Saturday, February 11, 2012
A few hundred feet south of the new high end housing track along the San Gabriel River near the El Encanto, there was a community of encampments like this. They were finally evicted some time ago but I was up there not long after to view the remains and found that some were coming back. I apparently got too close to one that was camophlaged well and I heard a womans voice yell out as a warning. I would bet that a lot of them are back by now. Unfortunately the first large encampment had made quite a mess...they drag in anything of value or even no value.
Reza Gostar
10:45 am on Saturday, February 11, 2012
I think people would be surprised to find out how many homeless people actually live in our nature areas. It's a tough dilemma because there are so many ordinances that restrict homelessness in certain municipalities, such as no overnight camping or RV parking and etc. The ones who are relocated from one area just end up somewhere else where they are further prohibited from living. I don't know the solution, but I feel it is unfair to prohibit homelessness in a society that relishes the ideals of free market capitalism. After all, isn't poverty a by-product of such a system?
Natalie
12:37 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012
I've recently found 4 encampments in the Lower Arroyo near the casting pond and under the Colorado Street Bridge. I can tolerate them living there, but dislike the way they've left rubbish strewn all over the area. Maybe the City could give them trash cans? According to Paul Ayers, these homeless people living in the wilderness used to be called hermits, which sounds much nicer.
Reza Gostar
1:50 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012
I like the term hermits, too. Trash cans are good idea or maybe even some sort of Conservation Corp like the one created by FDR, which was a reaction to the Great Depression. If we could somehow employee these people to help preserve our natural resources for the cost of shelter, some education and food it wouldn't hurt anyone. We spend way more money incarcerating people for non-violent offenses, which are a result of poverty.
Lisa Maiorana
5:28 pm on Saturday, February 11, 2012
I always feel when I look at someone who is homeless that it could always be me. People forget about that. They judge them, scold them and look down upon them. We as Americans do not take care of our homeless who are in general suffering from many other things like mental illness, alcoholism, drug addiction and sometimes a combination of all three. When the state mental hospitals closed down (because funding for same was denied) this is what happened. All the people who could once seek treatment and have a place to go when their mental illness got the better of them are now on the streets. If there are no hospitals to make them take their medicine, no money to even get them on medicine and no facilities to take care of these people then this will never go away. We take better care of our pets than we do other PEOPLE. This could be your mother, father, brother, sister or your own child. It could even be you. This is a sad story but offers no suggestions or hope for this problem. I don't think America will ever come up with a solution to this horrible crisis.
Jerry A
7:39 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Lisa, the funding for state hospitals was never denied. The feel good liberals back in the 1970's had it declared unconstitutional that nobody could be held against their will in a mental institution without a court order. The state hospitals were soon empty and the former patients were on the streets. This is when Governor Reagan stopped funding empty state hospitals. I know Democrats have a real hard time understanding why would you stop funding empty hospitals that are fully staffed with nothing to do ? But that's one of the differences between Democrats and Republicans. Governor Reagan closed down empty state hospitals.
Ron Cooper
4:56 pm on Saturday, February 18, 2012
Nowadays with the "Occupy _____ (fill in the blank)" mindset of the self proclaimed 99% versus the affluent 1% we seem to be unaware that there is also another group of 1%ers. Our Country's Veterans! Many of whom come home to also join the ranks of the homeless. They too are often forced to bivouac, a skill they learned in the military, alongside our freeways and inland nature areas.
I can personally attest to a significant group of Vets who have recently been displaced from their encampments adjacent to the 405 Fwy. that were in close proximity to the VA Hospital over on the Westside. This has been due to the construction project that closed that freeway this past summer and is currently ongoing.
From my own experience receiving treatment at that hospital I know many such individuals from first hand contact. Many are homeless and awaiting medical treatment. Sometimes a Vet must wait days, weeks, and in some cases months for a specific treatment or for a bed to open up in the hospital. If you are fortunate like me you come home to wait. If you have no home to go to what are you to do?
I don't know where I'm going with this, save to raise an awareness that there is another 1% in this Country. One that desperately needs our awareness and our help! Or, does "support our troops" only count when they are in uniform and fighting for our freedom to go shopping at the mall?
Lori A. Webster
2:03 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Very astute post, Ron - thank you for the reminder to support our military personnel, now serving or veterans. When we can, we give to Disabled American Veterans.
Reza Gostar
5:20 pm on Sunday, February 19, 2012
Yes, thanks for the comments, Ron. If our patriotism was measured by how we treat our veterans, especially those needing the most help, then I am afraid we would fall short.