“Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.”

On walking directly into the storm...

On the trail, news gets passed along differently. You truly wait to walk by people in order to get updates on the weather, resupplies and really anything else that may be essential to adjust so when we started to get new of hurricane Kay coming in, we knew we needed to be prepared. 

The thing about thunderstorms is they are great if you are inside; however, if you happen to be in a small tent held up by what is considered a “good conductor” at high elevation the feeling is not the same. As we arrived at our campsite the night before the projected storm, knowing we needed to make it over Kearsarge pass (a 12,000 foot pass) to get into town for a resupply of food for our next 6 days. We hoped the storm would hold off long enough for us to clear the highest and most exposed parts of our hike. 

When we woke up around 6:00 the next morning, we heard the sound of distant thunder…but no rain. We sat for a few minutes pondering what the right move was. If we stayed in the tent, we didn’t know how long we could potential get stuck in it. There is no one to tell you what to do, no real updates from the outside world, you really just have to make a decision and hope your intuition was correct. 

We packed up quickly, made some coffee and started the 7 miles journey to reach our resupply. As the light came, we were surrounded by fog, mist, and some dark ominous clouds here and there. In the sierras, it can take days for a storm to build but you never truly know when the heavens are about to open up around you. Things can shift in an instant.

As we kept a quick pace up the path checking in periodically with one another, all pain, all hunger and all other thoughts left our bodies. The only goal in site and in existence was getting over that pass safely. The higher we climbed, the more opaque white the sky became…no beautiful alpine views in sight, not that we would’ve stopped to look. Switchback upon switchback, our nerves grew but we continued up the mountain. We had no choice. When we finally reached the top, there was no view except the path that would eventually lead us down and the slightest bit of relief that we only had to make it another mile or so back into the tree line. Of course, once we finally did hit tree line…we were hit with rain, thunder, and hail the last few miles of our hike that day but we made it into town and we made it safe. 

The sierras provided much clarity for me. The decisions, responsibilities and way of life are much more black and white than in the muddled mix up of modern day society. Later that day, I thought of all of the things I am “scared of” in life and honestly chuckled... because it is all in my head.

If I can hike head first up a 12,000 ft exposed pass into a thunderstorm… then why am I afraid of what people think, then why am I afraid my business won’t succeed, then why am I afraid of ______. See, our brain likes to pretend things are more complicated but in reality, that took so much more courage and when push comes to shove, I showed up…because I had to. 

So why is it that I had to be put in a real dangerous situation in order to show up as that person? In order to know how fearless I am? Like I said, the sierras lay it out for you…crystal clear. There are daily tests but you end up realizing how strong, how capable, how fearless you truly are

If I can walk head first into the storm, nothing can stop me so where might you be holding yourself back right now? How can you weather the storm?