My first Adirondack High Peaks summits - Cascade Mountain at 4,098 feet and Porter Mountain at 4,058 feet. Alhamdulillah 🙂
Yesterday, in the pouring rain, with nothing protecting me from the elements except a sombrero from Panama (that I packed at the last minute upon seeing a chance of rain in the forecast) and a Columbia fleece some cloud computing vendor randomly mailed me lol.
In life, you have to try lots of different things to find something that makes you giddily happy and is also good for you.
For me, climbing mountains is one of those things. Imagine if I had never discovered that and thought the happiest I could be was mindlessly scrolling through my phone all day or chasing some corporate vision of “stability” or becoming the world’s best data scientist. All of that is nice but man, mountains are something else.
Life is funny - growing up, I visited all types of mountains, but it never occurred to me try hiking one. I would never have imagined I could do it. (Me, someone who literally failed gym in high school haha.)
I only learned I could do it after I did it. Everything in life is like that.
I’ve also learned to recognize the distinct phases of human interaction that happen during a hike.
When everyone is climbing, everyone is singularly focused on reaching the top, everyone has their own mantras and everyone is wrestling their own demons. Greetings exchanged are brief. If they see you struggling, they cannot pause to offer sympathy, lest their own resolve be weakened.
Yet as you get closer to the top, something magical happens. Returning summiters greet you with smiles and ecstatic grins. They have made it, so now their cup of generosity overfloweth. “Almost there.” “You’re so close.” “You’ve got this.”
And then after you summit and as you descend, all of a sudden, the roles are reversed. You are now the one to whom the ascending climbers are turning for encouragement. “Are we close?” “How is it?” “How much further?”
You grin as you summon all of the positivity and inspiration you have stored up from everyone who cheered you on moments earlier.
“You’re so close, you’re doing wonderful, you’re going to love it at the top.”