The following is a record of my travels and thoughts over the Christmas break...

The first hint of sunrise came as we meandered along a stream. The low clouds began to take on hues of red and orange, together with pinks tempered with greys. The hills around are dark with pine, from what I can tell by their shape. The scattered houses are sturdy and warm looking. I don't know quite where I am. Dunsmuir? I'll soon find out.
My traveling companion is a young man- tall, lean and lanky. He is en route to Seattle with his brother and mom. Longish brown hair is mussed from a night of trying to sleep in a coach seat. (I have no idea how mine looks...)
"Eric"
Ah, I now have a name.
It is Dunsmuir. It's small, surrounded by hills and trees. The street running parallel to the rails looks quaint, the shops decorated with lights. An early morning wind is whisking through the town, seemingly the only thing awake to see our passing through.
The not-quite-human feeling is growing again. The forest, hillsides, glimpsed mountain peaks covered with snow, innumerable small waterfalls rushing down to mee the river whisper something to my soul of it alienation from where it belongs (the lack of sleep and food is probably a factor as well) We are rounding a bend, horseshoeing up hill, I think. As my car reaches the far side I am presented with the glory of the ascending sun. Fading, I don't understand. Turn around, first glimpse of sunlight on snow covered hills.
We are high above the river now, at the knees of the mountain we are crawling along. The tree tops are at eye level. Bunches of mistletoe are all that is left in the bare branches. I find the mistletoe amusing and ironic. What a dangerous forest for folk to wander though...
The light grows and I have yet to see the sun. It is likely I will not this day, for the clouds are thick above as far as the eye can see.
The mountain peak keep drawing my eye away from the mountains below. Mt Hood? Mt Shasta? I don't know, my guess is the later because I think we are still in Cali.
I am awake and feeling distinctly unkempt. I must needs wander off to explore my means of travel.
---
Humanity returned with food and a cup of hot black tea. Victuals cost entirely too much.
We are along some unknown large body of water, lake or river perhaps. We are still up in the mountains, inclining me to say lake. However we just left Klamath Falls, leading me to conclude that it may just as well be a river. I need to work on my geography.
I am on the right side of the train. The sun has indeed come out, but is directly behind me, still out of sight.
The hillside out my window is brown and dry, scattered with scrubby looking pines. Dirty patches of snow cling to the north face out of the reach of weak fingers of sunlight. We are stopped for some unknown reason. There is a two-lane highway along the tracks. Not many cars, fewer trucks. the wind is breaking the cloud cover.
Flogging Molly is playing min my ears. Not quite the most Advent of albums, but something of a tradition for long adventure trips.
I'll have to call (name deleted) eventually and tell her I'm going to be a bit later than expected.
---
Somewhere up in the Cascades east side, the sun's come out. Its late in the afternoon and the light is filtering though the trees. The snow outside is perhaps three or four inches deep. The fallen trees are old and dry looking. I'm imagining being out in the forest. There's no lack of firewood and apre patches , but given the elevation, I'm guessing that it gets pretty cold.
The sun's gone behind the trees and hills. A hint of a mist is gathering over the lake and over the peak of the mountain. The ground now slopes upward with cricks (as the two old ladies call them) running down to meet the tracks. The snow is deeper and we are beginning to head down the mountainside. I wish I could smell the forest, the sharp pine, damp earth, and the cold blending and covering it all.
The clouds are low, quickly getting caught on the tree tops across the gorge. What is this fascination with clouds? I am always watching, noticing and commenting on them...

(to be continued at a later time, because I am getting tired ;-)