I stood in the valley and looked up at the peak. "We are going to climb that?" It seemed a little absurd. The view from the valley was beautiful, how different could it be from the top? We started the ascent with breathing already slightly labored. We were thousands of feet higher than we were that morning and we had 3,220' more to go on foot.
The path took us back and forth up the side of the mountain. Huge boulders from a long ago rock slide covered in bright green moss, brilliant orange autumn leaves scattered, layered and surrounding the trail. A trickling stream in our path. I wonder how people get past it in the spring. A light layer of snow covered our path as we neared the top.
The view surrounding us remained the same, but with every turn and increase in elevation the perspective changed. What once was a lone peak became one of three in a descending series. What was a massive shear wall became the base for rolling hills. The light changed revealing textures not noticed before.
Fifteen minutes from the top, our steps quickened even as our legs protested. The last 50 feet we ran, in both joy and relief. I wish I could say the top was all that. The vista was breathtaking to be sure, but not more magnificent than all I had seen on the climb...
11.29.2005
Glacial Point
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2 comments:
Hey T.
Brad and I tried something like that acouple of years ago. We actually gave up and turned back out of exhaustion only to find out we were only steps away from the end.
Way to go for perservering.
C
we almost gave up a couple of times when we asked people how much further we had to go. Within a five minute span we would be told it was 15 min...and 45 min. And they all told us to hurry so we wouldn't be coming back down in the dark. And they all looked really cold!
i'm glad we were stubborn.
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