Great Day in the mountains

Catherine and I got out for a day of snowshoeing in the mountains today. It was such a great day out there! In the past we've gone to areas where we've had to share the space with track-set skiing. But NOT today. We were where skinny skis would fear to tread, heading along a creek bed and ultimately gaining elevation to make it up to a spectacular ridge close to Helen Lake and the Dolomite pass. We were following old tracks from back country skiers. We could see where they had made some pretty turns along a slope. I've never backcountry skied but I have alot of respect for anyone who is going to make the arduous trek up there to ski down. A wee bit dangerous with triggering avalanches (in my humble opinion), but ice climbers shouldn't throw snowballs...

Catherine is 7 months pregnant now and is doing amazing. She has a steady consistent pace that I'm happy to follow.

As much as I love to ice climb there is also something about moving through the mountain environment that I get so much out of. For the past year I've been trying to put my finger on the elusive quality I experience out there. All I can say is that it has something to do with steady movement that the start and stop of climbing doesn't provide.

At one point we were making our way up the snow slope, abit of a squall was blowing in. I look up and see Catherine amidst the blowing snow. I realized that I could have been in Mongolia, Peru... any mountain in the world really. My breathing was steady and my steps had a slow rhythm. I felt this deep sense of satisfaction and realized that in that moment, right where I was, was where I was happiest. Perhaps that's what keeps mountain people in the mountains, that innate sense of belonging. It's not connected to taking risks or adrenaline. I don't experience it on a Mt Bike or on a running path. Not when I'm on an ice climb either. I suspect that when certain activities need a heightened sense of awareness and focus perhaps it overshadows the more subtle messages being communicated inside and out. I experienced this sense when I was moving along the ridge in the Ghost when Colin and I did our Link-up, I was where I was mean't to be. I imagine that one could get clinical and hypothesize that during slower-moving endurance activities, dopamine or endorphins are more likely to be released.

I prefer to believe in the magic of nature's whisper and how my own higher self remembers and responds. Like a language rarely spoken but you never quite forget.

It was Colin's birthday today. I was pleased that Catherine and I spent it together in the mountains, I think Colin would have approved.