Remember being Enthralled

The cold wind blew strongly, enough to make me stop in my tracks to steady myself. I closed my eyes and let the wind blew into my face. The coldness was refreshing.

It was still very early in the morning, nearly six. Already, it was bright, with the sun beaming it's warm rays gently all around. A steady stream of hikers were making their descend down the slope, some going fast while others taking time to check their footings, all of them careful though.

I decided to remove my hood. I wanted to feel the breeze going through my hair. The sun's warmth would be enough to prevent me from freezing. Again, I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the moment. Short but enough to spur to me to move on. Towards the goal, my goal, our goal, the peak!

I quickly continued upwards, taking steady steps along the trail. My other 3 friends, along with the guide, had already almost reached the peak. Patiently they waited in queue, in front of the plague proclaiming Low's Peak and it's height of 4095.2m above sea level. A group of climbers were happily posing for their pictures to be taken.

As I caught with my friends, I too joined the crowd in queuing. In the wait, seeing the joy and exhilaration on faces of fellow climbers, I noticed a kind of camaraderie built on the foundations of pride. Proud that we made it to the top. It didn't matter if we were all strangers, everyone smiled proudly to each other. Congratulations were heard at every where.

The only regret I had was we only had a few minutes to pose with the proclamation plague. I would love to be able to get more shots of us there, but there were many others waiting in line for their proud moment to be recorded. We snapped a few pictures and wandered away.

That was when I slowed down, looked up and around, and was awe-struck! Awe over the sight that surrounded me. Never in my life had I seen landscape such like it. White clouds spread all over, like surface of a cake, while the various peaks of the mountain stood magnificently, waiting to be admired.

I realized that I needed to take in the beauty as much as I could for as long as I could. I managed to squeezed my way through to get around the other side of the plaque, sitting at the edge of a rock by a cliff. Only 3 metal wires were holding people back from falling over.

I sat and stared. In front of me, the sun shone slightly above the span of rock formation on the opposite, with a deep valley separating us. The view was simply stunning to me, nature at it's gloriest that I'd seen. With clouds fringing the massive spread of rocks, I really felt like it was heaven, and I was very lucky indeed to have been there.

I remember thinking we were just like little ants on a huge rock. While we basked in the sun, while we basked in the joy of our achievement, while cameras snapped away, we should never forget to behold the magnificent beauty in our eyes and forever embed it into our minds. I remember wanting to sit there, for while if not for the day, just to savour as much as possible of nature's gift to mankind. I voted against taking out my phone to record the splendid view of the peak. I voted to let my mind be exercised to detail out and treasure that moment. I calmed down and looked.

Getting our photos taken at the proclamation plague didn't seem that important to me anymore. Remembering that magnificent view of the peak, the feeling of reaching the peak and the feeling of being enthralled by nature's work became far more important to me. Knowing I was there, and that I made it. Heaven on earth.