I took a 5 hour hike yesterday with a couple of friends from The Program. For the first couple of hours we climbed steadily through forest and then alpine meadows until we reached a spot to eat lunch that was just below the tree line. It was a perfect fall day on the mountain - cool enough for a jacket in the shade but at the top the sun was so intense I got a little sunburn. We ate facing the glacier at the very top of the range. It was funny to think that the area would be under 5 feet of snow in a couple of months.
It was extraordinarily quiet. I have grown so accustomed to all the racket in my city life that it's almost alarming to have a lack of noise. There weren't any tall trees so even the whooshing, whistling noise of wind stirring the branches was absent. My ears felt a little ringey because of the elevation and the strenuous climb. The intense exercise had helped me burn off most of the nervous energy that often plagues my day. I was calm. I was in the moment. I was on my toes and hyper-vigilant for the sound of foraging bears. It was really quite nice.
This is a beautiful world we live in. If only I paid attention every now and then.
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