The powerful pull of nature. There are some things you just have to see for yourself.

I woke up in the dark, probably around 4am on day ten of our twenty-three day Outward Bound trip. It was “peak day” and out of our group of twelve, I was the leader for the day. We were in the mountains somewhere close to the Colorado/Utah border. It was an early day because we had to get to the top of the mountain and then over to camp by sundown with a lot of miles to cover. I sat up in my pitch black tent, grabbed my head lamp and quickly put on my boots.

After I broke down camp I firmly woke everyone else up. We traversed in the dark as a group straight up a rocky cliff. The rocks teetered and clanked under our feet with each step. With no one in front of me to light up my next step, I spent a lot time looking down at where I was going to step next. When I paused to catch my breath, I looked up and out to the horizon to orient myself. There was one bright pinpoint of light in the distance that I fixated on at each break. What was that light? Was it a building? Was it a tower?

As we climbed higher, the sun gradually lit the world. That bright pinpoint dimmed and then turned from white to brown to pink. Finally, when the sun had lifted enough for us to turn our headlamps off, I gazed out at the horizon again. With one blink of an eye, it hit me and I knew what that light was. It was not a building or a tower but a city. Moab, to be exact. I squinted again for reassurance and after a small gulp of an inhale, I knew I was in a pivotal moment of my life. After I exhaled, I was aware that not many people would share this exact experience with me. I was aware of how far removed from an actual city I was. I was aware of how much we had accomplished before sunrise. I was being forced into a natural vs. urban perspective and nature was winning. It was at that moment that I knew Nature would always be calling and I would always answer.