Last week I asked for feedback about what makes you feel alive or connected. I received a flood of responses that I'm still going through. Next week I'll share the ideas and comments. It's going to be one of my favorite blog posts. Today I just wanted to share a quick story/thought. On Labor Day I decided to climb a peak called Mount Superior. I judged the mileage and elevation gain would require about two hours of hiking. Turns out I was completely wrong. I left late in the day with a friend. On our way up all the hikers looked at us funny. About halfway into the hike we realized it was going to be dark on the way down. Superior is a bit sketchy. Requires some scrambling with a bit of exposure. We decided we would try to push through and get up and back down past the worst of it before total darkness hit. Here's what we were rewarded with at the top:
I think this sunset wast he best I'd seen all summer. So was it genius or stupidity? I guess it was probably both! Right after we enjoyed this we had to make our way down on a night where there was no moon. Of course we had headlamps, but when you are down scrambling it's not that comfortable. Turns out this hike night was one of my all-time favorites, so I won't dwell too much on the questionable nature of our decision. Had I not spent the summer getting comfortable on bigger mountains, I think I would have turned around. Maybe there is a life lesson in here, but I'll let the reader decide what they want :)
