going up, and going down...

The past three days have been amazing! I am writing this entry, again from 32,000 feet, this time heading back to Boston--inspired, in awe, refreshed, and humbled.

During the summer of 2008, my buddy Drew came out to visit me in Boston. Unlike the a "trip in the city" that I planned for Drew last year, we both decided to head to Mount Rainier National Park in Washington for our 2nd annual reunion--turn off both of our Blackberries, enjoy each others company, and be out in nature...

The drive from Portland to Mt. Rainier National Park was breath taking...the mountains, tall pine trees, and lakes. We drove in Drew's blue Jeep to the tunes of Radiohead, catching up on each others lives. As the Jeep climbed 5,000 feet to Lake Mowich Rustic Camp Ground, we ascended into the clouds. After setting up camp, our first warm-up hike was for 4 miles to Eunice Lake, a lake formed by glacier ice--blue and clear, reflecting perfectly the mountains and pine trees surrounding it.

The following day, we got up at the crack of dawn to prepare for our ~16.5 mile hike. The sun was already shining, struggling to break through the dense layer of clouds that still engulfed Mowich Lake and our camp ground. We started at 5,000 feet, decended down to 2,500 feet, climbed up to 6,200 feet and then made our way back to 5,000 feet. The journey was breath-taking.

Throughout the entire hike, I could not help but think to myself what a humbling experience being in nature is and how this hike mirrored life. As Drew and I decended and ascended up and down the many 1000s of feet, through the clouds, and the and path traveled by so many travelers before us, I felt a mixed of emotions. There were times when I felt like I was in a scene of the Sound of Music wanting to dance, twirl and frolick among the wildflowers and clear mounatin streams. Then there were times I felt so small, so insignificant, so powerless, compared to the beauty and might of the nature around me. Additionally, I was constantly reminded of the saying, "the deeper the valley, the higher the peak." Drew and I went through several valleys during that hike...and in the valley, I would realize, "man, we are going to have to climb up again," and the climb up was a hard struggle, especially towards the end, but the view at the top was amazing. It mirrors life in a way--we don't appreciate the downhill until we have experience the struggle of the climb up. Moreso, sometimes among all of the foliage of the trees and shrubs at the bottom of the valley, we don't realize that there even is a peak...we are too busy just moving along, clearing the path, trying to find a way out. Then starts the climb up...it starts gradual at first, so we do not know that we are climbing...and it gets more rough, harder, but the thickness of the trees, shurbs and clouds still prevent our seeing of the peak. It isn't until we have reached the top, where the goal is in sight, that the 'distractions' clear, making way for the majestic peak...and still, the climb only gets harder--this time, through the snow, the rocks...sometimes on our hands and knees--we get to the peak. Once at the peak, we have the opprotunity to look back down the path we took--sure, from the top view point, we could of taken a different path, or done things a bit differently...but that doesn't matter. We are at the top, and we can reflect and realize that even though the view from the top is an amazing one, it was the journey up to the top that was better. {On this particular hike with Drew, I actually didn't realize that we reach the peak until our climb back down again...lol.}

For me this weekend, the journey up to the top was humbling. To see the majesty of Mount Rainer in the foreground, the beauty of the wild flowers, the greatness of the tall pine trees and the gracefullness of glacier formed lakes...and realize that I am but one, small entity in this world. Equally as important, the journey up to the top with Drew reminded me of the fact that as I was surrounded by the beauty and power of nature, I had a friend, a compainion, to live the experience with. And like the ups and downs of the trail, our friendship too has experience its fair share of trials...but during moments like this weekend which I would consider a "peak," I reflect back on our journey to this peak from freshman year of college when Drew and I first met and realize that for me, the connections formed with people are my "mountain peaks" in life, and it is these "connections" that have helped through the literal and figurative ups and downs of the trail.