WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE

The Best Place I’ve Been — Mountains

Reviving memories and reliving moments

My steps are getting slower. The weight on my back is getting heavier with every step. My eyes are focussing on the ground. Small pieces of gravel are forming the trail.

But then, I lift my head. A smile begins to form starting from my lips and eventually covering the entire face. What a view that stretches in front of me. How lucky am I to experience this beauty.

A high alpine valley is shining in spring’s early colors. The steep mountain slopes have changed from brown to lush green. Alpine roses are covering all sides of the valley. It’s an explosion of red and pink.

Birds are singing and cowbells are ringing. The roaring sound of a crystal-blue river is echoing from the mountains. I’m reaching the flat gravel road with the last step down from the hiking trail. A lush meadow stretches across the valley. Yellow flowers are shining from ahead.

My dad raced ahead together with my husband. I can see the two of them far ahead of me. They are just about to arrive at the mountain cottage. It’s always like that. As soon as they can see the destination, the cottage, they smell the beer and forget about all the pain. They shift a gear up and arrive on the terrace in no time.

Meanwhile, I’m taking another break. I rest my body on the hiking sticks. Warm rays of sunshine are touching my face. A single drop of sweat runs down my forehead.

While looking at this picture-perfect landscape ahead of me I’m thinking back at the day. How we started on the other side of the mountain range this morning. In thick fog.

Being the only guests in the cottage we left the place after a solid breakfast. Our heavy backpacks loaded up again, the trail was leading us straight up the mountain. We slept the night at just above 2,000 meters (~6,500 feet) and were climbing to a mountain saddle on 3,000 meters (~10,000 feet).

On the way up my husband got a bit light-headed and I also got a headache. We took a break, ate some food, and drank water. Living for several years on sea level and not being used to the altitude got to us.

But we continued.

The fog was only lifting sparsely. Now and then it offered us a view of the surrounding landscape. Massive slopes and peaks touching the sky. But just before reaching the highest point for the day, the fog closed up again and we could barely see the hands in front of our eyes.

A huge snowfield was the last obstacle to the saddle. Now, covered in a thick soup, my dad and I were only guessing which way to go. No trail signs or footprints to be seen anywhere up there.

The last part was the hardest. Crossing a snowfield on a steep mountain slope. My husband, the least experienced hiker among the three of us, was looking down the field that opened up and asked me what he should do if he’d slip and fell.

I turned around, created some possible scenarios in my head, and responded

“Don’t fall.”

And with that information in mind, we made it to the top. Just to walk, slip, and slide down on the other side of the mountain range again. On an old glacier or whatever was left of it.

The hours kept flying past us and our steps that weren’t fast from the beginning only got slower. It had started to rain. Or snow? I can’t remember. I just remember not seeing much.

And then, like from one minute to the next one, the sky opened up.

While the mood lifted despite the pain in our legs, it was only day number two of a five-day-long hike through the Alps. Five days where we wouldn’t go down into the valleys but remain the entire time above 2,000 meters in the mountains.

And on this day I reached our sleeping quarter after 7 hours of hiking.

Sitting down on the terrace with a cold beer in front of me and those breathtakingly beautiful mountains in the background. I couldn’t keep my eyes off the skyline.

Yes, this must have been the best place I’ve ever been to in the mountains. I’ve traveled a lot and lived in a lot of different countries. I’ve seen a lot, I’ve experienced a lot and tried lots of different activities. It’s surely not easy to pick one moment from a lifetime of memories but I’m sharing what I can.

Thank you Warren Patterson for creating this writing prompt in the latest travel pub of Globetrotters. “The Best Place I’ve Been” is a fun idea.

I also would like to invite you to read Randy’s photo essay of his latest trip chasing birds with his camera. “The Eagle Has Landed” is a very informative and interesting read illustrated with incredibly stunning photographs.

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