Climbing Mt. Erie

"On a clear day, you can see forever."  Sounds like the song or the movie doesn't it?

Well, in Anacortes (Washington) if you choose to drive up to the summit of Mt. Erie, and it happens to be a clear day, indeed you can see forever.  This was my first trip up the mountain, and we picked a fine and very clear day for this adventure.

The road is unpaved and rather narrow as it climbs through a thick forest with trails leading off into the trees for the more adventurous sort (and definitely those more physically fit than we are at this stage of our lives.)  However steadfastly I attempt to stave it off though, the longing to trek that lessor traveled path still has its draw.  In my youth I would have tackled those side trails without hesitation.

The reward of arriving at the top of Mt. Erie, no matter how one achieves the summit, is a 180-degree view to the south over Deception Pass, Whidbey Island and the Skagit Valley reaching to Mount Rainier, which is today visible in the distance on the horizon.  Above us, a sliver of the moon is visible even in the full light of this sunny afternoon.  From a viewpoint protected by a sturdy steel railing, the rocky ledge drops precipitously in front of us, and only the bravest of souls ventures beyond the railing to edge of the rocks.  That is not even an option for us, ensconced safely behind our steel boundary.  We read the warning sign about a young man that fell to his death from these same rocks.

The draw of height and a view must be a part of every human's genes.  One can easily imagine the earliest inhabitants of this region standing in the same position on this mountain in wonder of the world spread out below them.  How far did their journeys to the horizon reach?  Certainly not as far as our journeys together over the last ten years.  I suspect instead they gathered in the view of stars and the moon on midnight vigils from this vantage, dreaming the same hopes and aspirations for their lives as do we.

A view of this expanse, makes one realize how small we are in the overall scheme of things, and how fleeting our time in this wondrous world will be.

After our adventure on this day, we wandered back down into Anacortes for a fish and chip dinner at Bob's Chowder Bar.  Awesome!  And the best we've had in a long time.