Outdoor adventures also stimulate my curiosity. My favourite range to explore is a glacier shoulder in Canada, sandwiched between BC, the Yukon and Alaska. The sheer vastness lures me back time and time again. Each time I return, calculated in my approach to reach the summit, I’m humbled, bullied by the volatility of the weather.
Here, light is sparse. Every hour counts during the northern winters. After patiently waiting, over a couple of months, a weather window arrived for a long day in the range with a close friend.
There is a long drawn out silence as that incredibly powerful image is ingrained in my mind. Two natural forces of multitudes together in the same instant
The first obstacle is a river crossing amongst dense old growth, in which we have to soak our feet. We skin up through the forest, then navigate old glacier features to the summit with stunning views for as far as the eye can see. I pull my camera out to catch a vista of my trip as the sun shines down on a serac. My camera doesn’t share my content. It’s dead from the -25ºC temperatures…classic. I search for my extra battery only to discover I left it at basecamp below… classic. Yet another epic day in the mountains goes by undocumented.
There is a moment of exasperation, but it’s followed by relief. Relief to enjoy the simplicity of the present and the experience in such good company. I take it as a sign from the Universe. Perhaps I need to pay closer attention. Perhaps my intuition is distracted. This kind of thing can be a valuable guide in the wild.