“Is the view worth it?”

I stopped and looked at the man who had questioned me: an old Duke sweatshirt, khaki shorts, a regular backpack. His wife was similarly attired. I looked back at the mountain I had just summited and then at the man again.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. “It’s pretty beautiful.”

The man laughed and his wife sighed. “I sure do envy you coming back down.”

I smiled again and wished them luck; they went up, slowly, and I went down. I don’t think it was the response he was looking for, but I didn’t know what else to say. “The view” is not why I climb mountains.

Yesterday I did my first Colorado 14er, Mount Bierstadt, and I did it alone. Continue reading »