before the light

before the first light of day
the moon was hanging low in the west
and fooled me into getting up
I am fully rested and my mind is quite alert
going through a dozen possibilities of a logic puzzle that has no solution.
I toss and turn, never getting very comfortable in a too small sleeping bag.
Its been five days on the trail, and five long nights as well,
Today will be different, better, and yet harder.
On this early morning I need to rise, cook and eat, pack my too heavy pack and walk up the granite trail to the top of my known world. Mt. Whitney awaits, and with it a hundred memories of wonderful days long past.  My strength comes from God, but my inner character comes from my earthly father. He has never let me down, never disappointed, and will be true to me today also. as I walk the same trail we walked some 40 years ago, I know now what he was going through then. This is damned hard work!  Best not to even think about it, focus on something else, people you love, the great views, try not to listen to your heart racing and the lungs pulling hard at the thin air.  Just put one foot in front of the other and show those young people that this old man can make it, just fine. Let the mountain draw you upward.