From my vantage along the trail, I can see how hard it will be to complete the
ascent. This view from the mountain shows the Star and Life Scout ranks. There are large rocks, and a
clear view of how much farther I have to go. These taught me perseverance, an essential to ever reach a hard
goal. There is still beauty hidden among the rocks to those who look for it, just as there are still fun parts and jewels
of knowledge buried within the Star and Life Scout ranks, helping a Scout learn to keep his eyes open and to watch the world
around him.
Finally I stand at the foot of the last short ascent. The going is difficult and often
treacherous. The rocks shift and slide under my weight, and there is no longer a trail of any sort. The
only hint at a way to go are the small rock cairns built by other hikers, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding rock, but
reassuring in their own way that the mountain truly can be climbed. As I pick my way over the talos, I fall some,
slide other times. Once or twice I have to start back around and try a different approach. This trial is
very similar to the trial of earning the rank of Eagle Scout. It is something achieved by only 2% of all Scouts in the
United States. The process forces a Scout to learn leadership skills by taking his own path and guiding others along
it. It is a harsh schoolmaster teaching the lesson of discernment, for some paths work and others
don't. Much of the time, those that fail to work also can provide a stinging reminder to look around and to think a
little more.
I rest on top of the mountain. The joy of reaching the top has faded, as has the agony the
ascent sparked in muscle and bone. They have been replaced in full by the wonder around me. Alone on
an outcropping of hard rock I can see everything around the mountain, for I am literally at the top of the
world. Nothing around comes even close to the height I have attained, and the distant reddish folds of mountain
ranges, the tiny pinpricks of light running along fragile ribbons of road, and the sheer distance from all that man can tame fill his
heart and mind beyond its capacity to comprehend. There is no other place like this but here, my memory, and the
next mountain. Perhaps on the way down I will offer words of encouragement to another hiker also seeking the top,
or construct a cairn or two to aid another's journey on the last stretch, but for now I am too involved in enjoying the splendor
around me.