Seize every opportunity along the way, for how sad it would be if the road you chose became the road not taken. Robert Brault.
Some friends of mine did the Wapta
Traverse over Easter. They spent six days on the route, had perfect
weather and sound stability. When I read their trip report, I felt,
half guilty, half incredulous: "That's all?"
They are all ten years younger than me,
the weather was perfect, the stability was good, they had excessive
amounts of time and they managed to climb two peaks. That's it, two
peaks. Both are passed on the traverse route and each require only
an extra 300 metres of elevation gain.
Of course, in climbing, skiing and
mountaineering, we all choose how hard we want to push ourselves and
how much we want to accomplish. It's exactly that freedom that
continues to engage us in these pursuits year after year.
Presumably, my friends achieved all they wanted to achieve and are
happy with their accomplishments. However, I couldn't help but think of
opportunity lost for want of a little more effort.
Doug on the summit of Mount Goethe in the California Sierras
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