Just two of us? That was a surprise to both of us at the trail meet-up. We were expecting 4 others. We decided to hike anyway. Hike leader, Liz Bicknell, leads a delightful hike along some lesser-known trails up and around Mt. Work, on Vancouver Island.
Chatting intermittently, Liz spotted and named flora and at times quietly listened to and identified bird songs while we arrived at our snack break on Puddle Rock. There, I mentioned my sleuthing adventure with CBC radio and explained how I’d emailed them in desperate search of an answer. You see, they only played a smidgeon of the aria, hence it wasn’t listed in their App’s playlist. It was driving me crazy; I was haunted by several seconds of this most dramatic music that had given me goose bumps.
Several emails later, I had the answer courtesy of an email from the producer of Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. Liz was intrigued, and I told her I’d play the aria for her at our lunch stop. Later, while eating our lunch overlooking the vast green slopes plunging down into the inlet and rising up again to the Malahat, we listened to ‘Ah, Mio Cor’ from Handel’s opera Alcina sung by Margriet Buchberger. It was an overwhelming experience, our eyes taking in all this beauty in front of us, our ears exploding with this heart-stopping aria. Breathtaking. After, Liz played the beloved aria ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Puccini’s Turandot sung by Pavarotti. As if summoned by the music, turkey vultures appeared, majestically turning and rising above us with their huge, splayed wings, coming closer as if they too wanted to share in the magical moment. The music, the wild silence, and the unexpected company wove together in a moment that felt timeless, a reminder of the strange and beautiful ways nature sometimes joins in.
I can’t wait for my next hike with Liz.
-Terry F.
-Terry F. is a member of the Outdoor Club of Victoria.
Photography by Terry F. and Liz Bicknell
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