Looking up at a single pine tree growing out of a crevice. I find where I shall stop to rest in the shade. Just three thousand feet straight up, I grab the face of the sheer rock face and begin my climb. Pulling up with hands coated in white sticky powder, I feel the sweat begin to roll off of my brow. This is what I have been waiting for, this is that for which I trained. My ascent begins one foot at a time. I do not look back, I only look up, focusing on the lone pine tree that waits for me. With each and every hand hold, I rise another foot up the sheer incline. Not knowing how far I have come or how far I have to go. I only hug the cool face of the rock and pretend that I am one with it. Higher and higher I go, leaving the safety of level ground. The sun ascends with me, marking my progress with my own shadow, as if I were some kind of human hour glass. Then at a moment when my muscles ache and I am sweating beyond belief, a limb brushes my face and I reach my first goal. I slide up into the crevice and lay back under the shade of my new friend. I drink water that I have brought on the ascent. I gather my strength and sit contemplating that there are easier paths to self discovery, but ease of the journey is simply perspective and I still have half a mountain to climb.