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To compare with the mountains I had recently climbed (13 months earlier I had been two miles higher, and two months before had climbed 11,300 feet higher on Kilimanjaro and Rainier respectively) this Mount Monadonack was no towering peak. But it was the first mountain I had taken on in the very precious spare moments of a Harvard surgical residency, and had sentimental value. And it was not only for me. It is the second most climbed mountain on earth, Fuji being the first. It was at the ripe age of two weeks that one small boy had made his first outing on Monadonack, and that same fellow was the one who had accompanied me on a trek on that first most climbed mountain on Fuji. Later, he and I had climbed the Grand Teton together, so I went back to celebrate the 28th anniversary of that first Monadoanck climb.
That got me started thinking about "The Mountains in My Life, and My Life in the Mountains." There will always be mountains enough to climb, and what matters is not their size, but our willingness to take on the challenge and stretch our own abilities over them, and beyond ourselves. I carried him up this mountain the first time; there may yet be a time when I might need a little help getting up the next one, but I hope to still be trying!