Chicksclimbing’s Blog

Living on the front range of the Rockies, I am often treated to astounding views of these majestic peaks. They sneak into my field of vision at the strangest times… like when I’m looking in my rear view mirror on the interstate or some other surprising poke into my thoughts.  Sometimes the farther away one is from the peaks, the better the vista. Ironic, isn’t it? You can lose the forest for the trees, or the mountain views for the rocks at hand (and under foot).

Arapaho Peaks

I look towards these mountains and count the moments until I am back within them- in the river valleys, on the ridges, gracing the summits. I look towards the mountains and bide my time as if I am waiting for a lover to return. I spend my time longing for the touch of the high mountain wind, sun, and, yes, even the storms. Even the unpleasant moments hold their own grace, and help to steel me to the other unpleasant moments that pass through the minutia of daily life.

Many of us do maintain this special intimacy with the mountains. For some, mountain activities truly do take the place of intimate love relationships on terra firma. I can see how this happens. Always forcing me to face myself, the mountains hold this incredible appeal. A most intimate relationship with oneself is implied in the back country. There is no room for anything other than the truest step, and the highest level of being in the moment in all its truth. The mountains answer back in their own way. They answer with gusting wind, hot sun, teeming hail, lovely babbling brooks, hidden rare flowers… they offer an entry into a world that, while so many people share it, each adventure is unique and expressly personal. The mountains force a level of personal intimacy that is unique to each individual and yet all of us drawn to it silently understand the singular connection of our mountain companions.

Hillary Nitschke

There is always an implied uncertainty which leads to a certainty of soulful expression. Sometimes adversity slides like water off a duck’s back, and other times when the shoulder is forced to the wheel, the moments of personal reckoning and enduring are excruciating. The memories, however, become exquisite regardless of the harrowing details. We remember the finest moments and their less exotic mates with the same fondness. With this hind sight, we are always ready to move forward with purpose.