“ Just become quiet, still and solitary, and the world will offer itself to you to be unmasked; it has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.” Franz Kafka

In my life I have always longed to be alone in the stillness of the morning at high elevation where I know I had to really sacrifice to be here at this time of day. This hike is only 3 miles but it is straight uphill and requires a bit of determination, especially with a 20lb backpack on my back with all my camera gear and equipment to stay the night. But I know life is short and if not now then when? How many of us have said “someday I’ll do it” and then someday never comes. Life has a way of getting in the way of our dreams.

But I couldn’t let this one pass me by. The moment of first light on the peaks is something spiritual. It has a way of changing you. You are grateful in a way you’ve never been. Grateful for the experience, grateful for your health that you are able to do this hike, grateful for the stillness outside and the stillness it brings inside of you.