Che'wah'ko
Yesterday I strained my way up Magee Peak via the Magee Trailhead. I had attempted this hike in June from a different, less steep but significantly longer trailhead that skirted some alpine lakes, but the snow was still too deep, and I felt the prudent thing to do was turn around lest I slip off the mountain and no one was there to witness it. The local Native American tribe had named this peak many years before the Anglo name “Magee” took hold. It was named Che’wah’ko. The Pit River story is that this peak was the origin of most of the animals in the world; salmon, bears, deer came streaming down the mountainside and spread about the world. In 2020 and not being Native American, I cannot hold this story in my heart because it is not my story, but I appreciate the beauty and sacredness of it, and it made the steep, unforgiving hike up to the peak have more meaning than a pretty landscape of geological interest. I pondered this story as I came down the mountain. I was too busy tel...