"Mountains...They pose profound questions about our durability and the importance of our schemes. They induce, I suppose, a modesty in us.” Robert Macfarlane
Standing at the base of a mountain, I look up. Small against its tall shadows, I suddenly feel insignificant. The greens and browns of the alpine forest that cover the mountains flanks appear almost translucent, with the rocks exposed beneath the trees roots revealing a beautiful artistic whirl of colors, banded with layers of reds and greens that jump around in waves of various amplitudes and periods. Its minerals being held together by matrices of sand and clay. This rock, its been heated, cooled, crumpled, and churned, metamorphosed into this beautiful monument standing before me. An outcrop over the western fringe reveals itself, still standing strong despite the heavy forces of wind and water that for hundreds and thousands of years have tried to brutally beat it down. Formed, reformed, shaped, reshaped, this mountain continues to evolve, its cycle never ending. I see it now. I see the strength that it possesses. Its this immense power, this resilience that draws me in, as if to challenge me. What can I do but accept this challenge and learn from it. This mountain has something that I do not. It has everything that I do not. Being open to it, I have everything to gain. Leaving it provides me with the opportunity to take with me its strength, its serenity, its majesty.
There is a lesson with every mountain. Mountains don't necessarily have to be such literal entities. They can exist within even the smallest of beings or things and present themselves in the physical form, or the psychological form, or any form for that matter. No matter what form your mountain takes, the sooner you recognize it, accept it, challenge it, the sooner you can learn from it.
Most recently, my mountain took on the very literal form of the word. The Big Basin Trail Marathon had me traversing through the Santa Cruz mountains for a grueling 26.2 miles. Winding my way through tall redwood forests, over slick granite slabs, and up and down undulating climbs required endless concentration. Every mile was a challenge. Every mile made me stronger.
Let's get it started!
Necessary food break at mile 16.
VICTORY, oh yaaaaa.