Why do I climb mountains?

This past weekend I willed myself to traverse one of the most unrelenting mountain ranges in the country, the Great Range of the Adirondacks. 25 miles, nearly 18,000 feet of elevation gain (and loss), and rated the 3rd hardest day hike in America by Backpacker Magazine, behind Mt. Hood and the Pemi loop in New Hampshire: the only hike I've ever been more flogged by. Fortunately I did neither trip in just a day for that would be masochistic, although the idea has some appeal to me.

Graced with the best weather in the Hamilton Outing Club's 46 peaks weekend in history, Anne McGarvey and I set across this range in search of 8 summits, spending our first night under the stars at Marcy Dam, where I ran into a co-worker and good friend from my summer job in New Hampshire. She was out for the night with her friend since they were "orphaned" on parents weekend at St. Lawrence. The next day they ran into the Hamilton Group ascending Mt. Colden as we battled the masses ascending Marcy. It most certainly is a small world.

The Summit of Marcy was a zoo. We didn't spend much time there; we enjoyed the view, got a picture with our banner, and continued on to Haystack. Ironically, no clouds were split by Tahawus on that day. There is where the trail started showing its true colors. We quickly dropped down about 1000 feet in just over a mile before going nearly all the way back up. This was repeated between the next two summits, Basin and Saddleback. The blazing sun, 30 pound packs, lack of water, and merciless slopes took their toll on us up and down. Sometimes we could get to a section of trail and wonder whose idea this was. There were dozens of sections where we literally climbed - not hiked - to continue on. We sustained falls, scrapes, and the raw soreness induced by the flogging of the slopes. As I write this even my hands feel sore. From Saddleback, we looked back and saw where we had come from:

We spent the first night camped on the Ore Bed trail between Saddleback and Gothics and cooked dinner with the seemingly vertical slope of Gothics staring us down. The daunting task, aided by fixed cables, was accomplished by headlamp the next morning by 6am. As we ascended, we saw lamps at the summits of Mts. Marcy, Algonquin, Giant, and Dix. The were all thinking the same thing we were: this day will be a glorious day.

We watched the sunrise from the summit of Gothics. While I am not religious, the following poem by e.e. cummings sums up my feelings:

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

e.e. cummings
1894-1962

The silence preceding the sunrise was deafening, yet liberating. The early wakeup and painful ascent of the steepest slope I have ever climbed without rope was suddenly nothing. As the sun crested the horizon, the air moved around us as if the mountains were acknowledging the new day. All my aches and pains were wiped away at that very moment. The crisp air cleared my thoughts as the golden light flooded the valley and the yellow, red, and orange leaves rustled in the breeze.

The rest of the day was similar to the last: up and down and merciless. However, we still enjoyed each moment to its fullest, feeling how lucky we were to traverse this Great Range, regardless of how painful it may have been to feel. We completed our summits, but took away a much more rewarding experience. Before I embarked, I could not have told you what compelled me to confront such a daunting task or how it became part of me and changed me, but now I can tell you why I enjoyed it even though it was one of the most physically and mentally challenging tasks I have completed. 

Cummings thanks God for this most amazing day because that day stimulated his senses to their fullest extent. Whatever stimulation that might be, it reminded Cummings that he was alive and experiencing the world in a wonderful and enlightening way. I still cannot tell you how this trip changed me or made me a "better" person. 

I will continue to climb mountains because the swim is chillingly refreshing

I will continue to climb mountains because I revel in the painful ascent - and descent

I will continue to climb mountains because the mountain is never easy to conquer

I will continue to climb mountains because I live in the moment

I will continue to climb mountains because it makes me feel alive.