Kitted in fetching red / purple reversible balaclava (perfect for the friendly bank robber) and stripy red and white gardening gloves. A head torch to guide the way. 2.8 km to scramble and 1000 metres to climb before sunrise. Welcome breakfast of porridge and eggy bread. Avoided the urge to dip.
Conversation limited as endless steps appear. Sweat from exertion hangs wet inside raincoat, cold against the skin. Mist condensates outside.
Steps are gone, now sheer rock faces me. Steep shards descend toward darkness. I hope I never see where they end.
*****
Hello vertigo, meet altitude sickness. Please, have a party in my head...
'Look down'
'Why'
'Just look down, you'll see'
'What, what will I see'
'Nothing'
'What do you mean, 'nothing?''
'Just...nothing'
'Why are you lying on the rock?'
'It's comfortable.'
'Comfortable rock?!? You looked down didn't you?'
'Maybe...'
'Yes! What did you see?!'
'Nothing. Just nothing.'
'Look again, look again!!'
'FUCK OFF Vertigo'
***hugs rock***
*****
The landscape opens to moonscape. Layered rock climbs toward destination. Harsh wind blows in the darkness. My legs gather momentum, using each group ahead to fuel my rise. I pause. Behind, headlights progress through the night. Left, right, left, right. Martian Miners parading silently for the bewitching hour.
The final rock-face. A steep but simple scramble. Every few feet altitude steals my breath. I collapse above, nestled in against fierce west wind. The cold forming a blanket around me, wrapping it's way into my skin digit by digit.
*****
First light brings clouded sky. Sun visible through shadow.
What a shadow.
Shepherd's warning lights the candy-floss sea. Cloud sedimented in altitudinal layers; some chased across the horizon, others static as the rock itself. Peaks of granite resolute against the weather, peeking out to enjoy the view. Can't blame them.
My mind full of images cameras cannot capture, I descend. Curious to see the route already trodden. Stark beauty in nature's first light.
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