向湖而上

安徽 周艷霞

瓦藍的天空、澄澈的湖水、寧靜的風景、悠然的時光，都是來自阿瓦蘭奇湖的誘惑，那是天賜的怡然之美。

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In April 1998 I visited Avalanche Lake and went on a hike.

The day before I went up to the lake, I thought I would have dinner at Tupelo Grill in Whitefish, drink for free in the Black Star Beer tasting room, stay at the Non-Hostile Hostel, walk along the lake on the edge of town, and check out the ski hill. All these things would seem so terrific.

When I started up to Avalanche Lake, it was after a rainy night, and I was making the first human footprints of the day. The trip to the trailhead had been well into indescribable: steep, snowcovered mountains, deep valleys, waterfalls, tall trees, blue water, and clear sky all lit up in the day's first light.

The trail to the lake was just a couple of miles gradually climbing, and it was right in the middle of Montana's Glacier National Park, but the vast majority of the park's visitors never saw it. They stayed on the road and missed the show, leaving it to the lucky few.

The cliff was right there, decorated with waterfalls and topped off with a snowy ridge（山脊）.It's right across the lake from the spot where the trail comes in. Arriving there was much like walking into a cathedral.

Glacier National Park is full of places like this, places that you can have to yourself for a few hours, or a few days. As I walked up there, I scared rabbits off the trail and deer into the woods. I was, in turn, scared by the bear warnings.

I got to the lake an hour and a half after sunrise. It was just starting to warm up. I took off my boots and socks and waded into the stream that feeds the lake, running right down off the snowy cliff.My feet went instantly numb. I spooked two ducks into the air, and they skidded to landings in the middle of the lake. The wind stirred the treetops.

It's the moments of silence that we actually travel for. Visiting old friends and making new ones and seeing cool stuff is the backbone of it, but the whole point is to alter your surroundings, and thereby yourself, ideally in the direction of Avalanche Lake, a world of mellowness （怡然）.

Reading Check

Complete the following chart with only one word for each blank according to the text.

Title:Up to Avalanche Lake Who I（the author）When In 1._______What 2. _______Avalanche Lake and going on a hike Before the hike The day before I hiked to the lake, I 3. ________what I would enjoy during my trip.Experiences While the hike?What I saw or heard●Steep, snow-covered mountains, deep valleys, waterfalls, tall trees, blue water, and clear 4._______●A less remarkable 5. ________to the lake●The cliff, waterfalls and a ridge covered with 6.________●Rabbits, deer and some notice boards to warn the tourists against 7.________●Sunrise, two 8.________?What I thought or felt Reaching the 9. _______was like walking into a cathedral.After the hike（Evaluation）●The meaning of travel was to be 10. _______for some moments.●We travel to alter our surroundings and ourselves.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

The cliff was right there, decorated with waterfalls and topped off with a snowy ridge. 懸崖就在那里，被一條條瀑布裝扮著，上面還有雪嶺。

【點石成金】本句中動詞短語decorated with...和topped off with...均為過去分詞作狀語，表示伴隨的狀況。