Snowfall along Fish Creek Falls Trail, Steamboat Springs, Co.
-
"Between the ages of twenty and forty we are engaged in the process of discovering who we are which involves learning the difference between accidental limitations which it is our duty to outgrow and the necessary limitations of our nature beyond which we cannot trespass with impunity." - W. H. Auden
-
In 2006, my Southwest flight banked left approaching Denver and I see them for the first time – the Rocky Mountains. An incredible sight, the Rockies white peaks are spread out below me like the chiseled shoulders of athletes. I vow to return to explore the Rockies.
Twelve years later in January 2018, I return to see the Rockies from the ground-up and to visit Grant, my 25-year old son. Viewed from the ground the Rockies are awe-inspiring and intimidating. They were first formed 170 million years ago (twenty to forty years in mountain years). Danger lurks in the Rockies - avalanches, grizzlies, and moose.
The Rockies are a challenge to Grant. He takes the ski lift to its highest point and hikes to the top of the mountain. Then snowboards past accidental limitations.
Grant, a ski instructor at Steamboat Springs, takes me, a novice skier, up to Sunshine Peak (elevation 10,384 feet), a point past my necessary limitations. I do not pass with impunity – in 3.4 miles, I use the back of my head three times to aggressively pack down loose snow.
Two weeks later, driving over South Mountain (elevation 1,200 feet) just west of Frederick, MD, I see spread before me an old friend - the Appalachian Mountains. First formed 480 million years ago – these mountains are grandfatherly in mountain years. Gently worn peaks appear like the open arms of family forgiving my trespass out west.
Later, walking the Appalachian Trail, turtles, Blue Herons, and deer watch my steps with cautious curiosity. I smile and nod. Welcome home.
How about you? What are your limitations? Share a story!
According to Wikipedia: Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was an English-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form and content.
