By Vern McGeorge

A Secret Place

This is my crude hand drawing of a place I’ve been. Out of respect for the men who took me there and my desire to keep it an uncrowded secret, I won’t say where. But I surely had to work my butt off to get there.

Getting There Took a Team

The team I was part of was a real mixed bag, from human mountain goats who hike and fish and hunt this area on a regular basis, to men who had never even been backpacking before. As a good team, we had strong hikers in front to lead the way and strong hikers in the rear to hold the team together.

The hike to get there took two days. The first day we had to climb up 2,000 feet in about two and a half miles and down 1,000 feet in about four. The second day was less than three miles, but the middle mile gained almost 2,000 feet. After crossing that ridge, the hike ended thankfully with a gradual slope where we jumped down from rock to rock in order to lose the last 300 feet. 

All told, that day’s hike was one of the most exhausting physical ordeals I have ever encountered. But once accomplished, it was well worth it.

The Beautiful Reward

Once having set up camp, we were surrounded on the left, rear and right by high rocks. On the right, a spring provided water chilled by its passage through a snow field that had not yet melted, even though this was mid-summer. To the front, Mt. Shasta was framed by the rocks and a lake. As the sun went down, the mountain’s color changed from granite blue to a vivid pink. The full moon rose beside it and lit up our camp through the evening.

Anywhere We Meet Challenge Together Is Memorable

The actual location of this place is not really important. This place is anywhere that men work as a team to achieve a difficult goal. Until the day I die, I will remember this place and how it looked that evening. Until the day I die, I will remember the men who shared this journey with me.

Key Take-aways:

• The sweetest part of reaching a challenging destination is the teamwork it took to get there, rather than the destination itself.

• The journey and the men I shared it with are forever etched in my memory.