“When I’m up here, it’s as if I’m floating and everything else has been left below. My mind settles as I climb the mountain and I feel at peace. The ancient trees with their rough bark wrap around me like silk cocoons. Their solid trunks and tendril roots grip the ground as if to say, I will hold you, I will not let go. The air is clear, not sticky or musty, and there’s a breeze that wings its way through the branches, the leaves and across my face. The world below ceases to exist. If I close my eyes I float above the surface of the earth and … I feel calm.’

Bobby Carlon”