December 25th, 2015

For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously! Build your cities on the slopes of Vesuvius! Send your ships into uncharted seas! Live at war with your peers and yourselves! Nietzsche

Morning y'all,

It's another warm, rainy day up top. The high yesterday reached 51 (!!!) degrees. The overnight low was 48 degrees. It was 48 degrees and raining lightly at 7am observation. The mountain received another .80" of rain yesterday, bringing our 4 day total up to 3.62". There is no ice remaining on the trails, but there is plenty of water. In addition to those 3.6", the last of our melting ice has the trails as wet as I've seen them this season. Be prepared for wet conditions! As of this posting, 441 is closed due to a landslide. Get out and enjoy your holiday season!

I got restless after my morning reading session and I couldn't stand still any longer. I ran down Bullhead, saw some cars in the parking lot, then headed up Trillium. I didn't see any hikers on those lovely, meandering paths. It was my first day of the season where I didn't speak to another person. There's a certain lightness that comes with that kind of solitude. By foregoing connection with others, more wells up inside of you. It is a calm, compelling sensation.