We trudged through
a hidden ravine
just below the ridge line
smoking and joking
about a wishful stay at Club Med.
Granite boulders
blocked us from the wind
and the coming storm
creeping up the valley floor.
Clouds came and went quickly,
like zephyrs watching our progress,
there were too many to count,
but we knew they were there
to guide us.
And when the rain started,
it did melt us,
it froze us to our very cores.
The whole place
seemed like
a portal into
a time and place
long forgotten.
And when
we finally made it back
to base camp,
a full day had disappeared
in just ten minutes.
That's what mountains
do to you.
They make you lose your mind.