…  Duncan Ferguson

Last full moon, I was in the Yukon for work. When there, I had the tremendous opportunity of going to Kluane National Park and climbing one of its mountains. Kluane is a World Heritage site, a top wilderness adventure destination, and most of its landscape is mountains and glaciers.

The quote above describes perfectly what happened for me there. For that one glorious day, I needed to pay exquisitely close attention in a way that is very rarely demanded of us in ordinary daily life. If I didn’t pay attention, I could have fallen down the side of a mountain (okay – my more experienced hiking friend didn’t experience it as that dangerous – but I’m talking my reality here!).

It was one of the edges I confronted that day.

When we finally got to our destination – it was not the top of a mountain but a plateau high up. By that time, I had made it through my wall – several, in fact. And, it didn’t matter that it wasn’t “the mountain top.” It was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I found heaven waiting beyond.

It might have been the hours of hiking, the altitude, or the high of the many challenges overcome, but as I stood there surveying the vast, glaciered landscape, I was utterly humbled.

It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen or experienced.

As I stood there, I wanted to remember that moment forever as I became one with that place, that experience, that moment. It was breathtaking.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my hiking partner, who encouraged me; the mountain, who knows what is below; and you dear reader, who gives me a reason to write.

Have you had times and places in nature like that? If it hasn’t been lately, it’s time… Nature calls!

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.”    … John Muir