I have been to the mountain top

A few days ago, someone asked me what I enjoy about hiking.  At the time, I answered that it was partly the exercise, partly the views, and also the solitude.  I've pondered that question a bit since then and discovered that, while that initial response is true, there are deeper reasons.

Projects at work fade quickly as the next task appears, and shaving a few seconds off my regular run is only briefly elating, but I can instantly remember the view from the top of every hike I've done in the last couple years, and can describe each trek to you in detail.  Sometimes the ascent to the summit is a long, gradual climb with the destination visible well before I reach it.  Other times, the trail takes me through stands of trees or up the back of a cliff, and the apex appears suddenly.  Regardless of how I get there, reaching that destination fills me with an immensely satisfying sense of accomplishment that bests anything available back at sea level.  My lunch at the summit - a peanut-butter sandwich and handful of nuts- tastes better than any restaurant meal.

If you're reading this, then you probably know me well enough to know that I'm all about facts and data, research and preparation.  Certainly, I prepare well for a hike, but once the trek is on, it's a sensory-based experience.  I walk along the trail that's a crooked scar on the face of this mountain, the dirt, roots and rocks around me forming little gullies and mounds like a close-up view of the earth's skin.  The trees and plants spread away from the trail in rich layers unlike anything I can find in the best city park.  The air up here is crisper, and sound carries well.  At the summit, standing on solid ground yet so far above other parts of the earth, I grasp the magnificence of our planet more than I do anywhere else.  That connection doesn't happen looking out from an airplane window or from the top of a skyscraper. 

I have never climbed one of the world's famous peaks but I understand why people do.