Days I Remember

On Saturday, over 21 hours, we slithered through alder, climbed up rock, ice, and snow to a beautiful summit only 30 miles from my house and returned to camp the long way via glaciers and gorgeous valleys. 

We saw seven bears and too many sheep and goat to recall precisely. 

We moved through the night without headlamps, following hints of trails left by moose. 

We cooked dinner at 4 AM Sunday morning. That afternoon, we lounged in the sun drinking beer, watching the clouds. 

These are my favorite days. Feeling so alive, scared, tired, engaged. Moving the body in different, subtle ways that require close observation, skill, and intuition. Feeling human. Seeing wild places. 

These are days I love, days that teach me things that are hard to learn elsewhere, days I remember vividly many years later.