The first backpacking trip of the season is always something of a surprise. The picture I have in my mind and the movie playing in my head that accompanies the anticipation are one thing; the reality is far different. Where did I get this idea that things would play out as they do in my imagination. The wilderness is not amorphous but each mountain, each lake, each stream, each tree, each stone, is individually particular and not merely a mountain, a lake, a stream, a tree, or a stone.