If you’re a mountain minded individual in 2024, then you likely know the feeling of overwhelm as you scramble to send those final emails while stuffing the bags for a weekend away in the mountains. If it weren’t for the packing list chiseled out over countless adventures before, you’d certainly forget the sleeping bag again as you rummage through the gear closet, seemingly grabbing things at random.
There is something essential then, about adventure, that makes this stress worth the work. On a human level, adventure creates the space to breathe deep, for the blood flowing through your veins to pump faster and the feelings of personal liberation that follow to give meaning and context to our lives. We need this space more than ever in today’s rushed and commodified world.
Reflections in the water
There’s a photograph taken by Aspire photographer Nick Danielson from Mt. Rainier National Park that I keep at my desk. It shows a perfect reflection of the Meany Crest towering over Summerland in a large alpine tarn. On the far side of the water, I am running.
I remember that moment, running through the morning light after climbing to Pandhandle Gap in the pre-dawn pursuit of rarified air and hard-earned sunrise views. As I sit writing this blog, looking at my calendar and my tasks and the winter looming outside the windows, this photo is somewhat of a beacon, a foghorn on a shrouded sea. The recollection of that morning on Mt. Rainier’s shoulders is a “why” that I return to when the daily grind begins to wear on my consciousness. When things become monotonous, this photo is a reminder that the pursuit of adventure holds the tonic.
Ascending the mountain
So let’s cue it up: the icy mountain peaks, cold rushing rivers, and the contours of the unknown mountain inviting us into mystery.
McGregor Mountain is a 8,122′ peak in the North Cascades. Shy of the summit, there is a bench that offers incredible views of the glaciated peaks to the south. Above this bench lies the foreboding summit block, which appears to be an improbable climb from below. Yet, as you press beyond the bench and scramble up the boulder field, a path through a series of ledges marked by red blazes unveils itself.
I was on these ledges with two Aspire clients this past summer during the Stehekin Rendezvous, ascending the mountain and sharing stories of adventures past as we slid and stretched through this system of passageways towards the summit. The ledges provided the perfect allure, with one challenge after another. The question of what would come next was always looming in the back of our minds.
The route is generally clear, but the element of the unknown activates the nervous system – your focus become crisp and clear searching for the next red blaze amongst the rocks. Physical attention is also heightened as the relationship between core strength and coordinated limbs allows for the precise movements scrambling requires. There’s no room for daydreaming on the summit block.
At one point on the climb up McGregor, climbers must pivot over the deep cut of a ravine between two ledges, using a boulder protruding from above as a handhold to cross this precarious crux. While these steps are not particularly hard to negotiate, a fall here would likely end in serious injury or death. The runners I traveled with passed by with grace, leaving nothing more than a few nervous chuckles to linger over the no-fall zone. The tension and challenge of this terrain brought not only clarity and focus, but also the sense of joy and levity that activates in beautiful places that require our full attention.
As we neared what I knew to be the top, a light dusting of snow appeared on the rocky shelves and crunched under our feet. “Oooo, I’d step here”, one runner expressed, pointing to a level step in a system of columnar rocks as we climbed up off a bench towards the low saddle above. The other runner took their cue, scaled the system of columns and popped up to the top. What followed was raw and uninhibited, a clear and exuberant release of the tension felt on the climb up:
“Whoah! This is just… this is f***king unbelievable!” I looked up to a jaw that might as well have been scraping the valley floor 6,000′ below.
“I really just can’t believe it… like, what!?! It’s SO beautiful up here!”
The runner had reached the saddle just below the summit and had been afforded the 360° views that McGregor it known for… and they do knock you off your feet. I quickly scrambled up to meet her, and though I’d been there before, I was no less awe-struck. We had put in the work on the seven mile climb and were now receiving the sweet reward.
As we sat and broke out our trail snacks, we continued to circulate the appreciation and awe of the moment. We shared gratitude for our bodies, which were still pulling us up 8,000′ peaks after years of battering, and for the exceptional cookies provided to us by the Stehekin Valley Ranch.
Into the unknown
Piercing upwards through the unknown that day had gifted us with presence, both on the scramble upward and in the moment we reached to top. The unknown is the ultimate disruption of the mundane, requiring us to be alive, alert and awake to the world around us. In a world full of monotonous distractions, running trails through remote wilderness offers a uniquely thrilling meditation.
Sacred process, sacred ritual
The runners who climbed McGregor Mountain with me that day broke out of routine and into action that brought to them vitality and thrill. Those moments are exceptional and singular, but they don’t happen without a profound amount of dedication and planning. It’s worthwhile to acknowledge the work it takes to find yourself on the summit of McGregor Mountain as it’s own journey.
Every step of this process is sacred when we allow it to be. The fatigue of looking at a screen for the sixth hour of the day causing us to look up and gaze at the photo we keep at our desk with longing. The text to a friend – “How about heading out to that hot spring this weekend?” The shared excitement after you secure the reservation, the planning that follows, the hurried packing, the drive to get there… it’s all the ritual.
The magic of acknowledging this entire process as sacred is that we create the pathways for gratitude to travel on, outward from those summit moments into each moment of our lives. In the pursuit of adventure, we experience both the expansion felt on the summit and grounding of returning to the valley floor renewed. Through the integration of these experiences into our day to day, we can dial in a life that pulses with purpose. The magic of the mountains is ours to weave with, and the tapestry we create with it holds the vitality of transcendence – so where to, friend?
Trent Banks a senior trail guide and marketing director for Aspire Adventure Running. He is also a mountain rambler, disc jockey, and father of two daughters, based out of Seattle, WA. He joined the Aspire crew in 2018, and fell in love with facilitating the connection between trail runners and wild places.
Listen to his Spirit Ventures DJ mix series, inspired by and made for trail running.
Aspire remove barriers between runners and incredible experiences in the wilderness, making the pursuit of adventure more accessible to everyone. Explore the Stehekin Rendezvous or view the 2024 calendar!
