So, when we went up on Brokenback on July 5, the weather was really poor, spitting rain and almost snow. The temperature was close to freezing. We wandered about, trying to figure out if things would get better or worse. But the weather did improve slightly so we went ahead with the ceremony. The sun even came out for a few minutes as we were tossing the ashes. I began by talking about our community, our family, and how we were all together on Brokenback, our spiritual home. We rededicated the resting places of Jackie, Rodney, and Shadow. We bid their souls to welcome and embrace our departed brother, John Trudell. Then, we unpacked the ashes from the wooden box Dana had provided. Each one of us said a message to John or an anecdote about John before tossing a handful of ashes. At the end, EDelMar tossed the last of the ashes, while I tossed the pine cones that Larry (Oregondoggie) had sent that he had collected at the tent site. Then, we went over to where the cache was in the split rock, and read all the letters and poems that y'all had sent. We then sang "Meet Me on the Mountain", had a swig of whiskey and a smoke, and put everything in the cache. It was a very memorable time, that old cold time on the mountain.
