Hesperus

Ever since I was a little boy Hesperus Peak, stoically posed amid the La Plata Mountains of Colorado, has enthralled me.  No matter where I’ve been, Hesperus Peak has always been the first to welcome me back to the area.  Like a giant sentinel standing firm at it’s post, it reliably announces from afar that I’m almost home.  At 13,237 feet, it stands out as the tallest and most obvious of the La Plata Mountains which sweep South from the rest of the mighty San Juan Mountains.  There is contention whether Lavender Peak is taller, but there is little debate over which mountain dominates the landscape of Southwestern Colorado.  Even the Navajo have long held Hesperus as one of their Sacred Mountains.  It is the Northernmost Mountain overlooking their homeland as well.

Hesperus Mountain is not a fourteener; nor is it a centennial thirteener.  As a result, it remains off the radar.  It doesn’t demand technical gear therefore it doesn’t impress climbers and experienced hikers can usually find something much more elegant.  So why climb it?

Part of the allure is the physical challenge.    The Southern approach will test your endurance with about 4000 ft vertical and seven miles one way.  Part of the allure is the navigational challenge.  There is no established trail so route finding skills are a necessity.  Part of the allure is the solitude.  Very few people climb it because it has no claim to fame so it is very likely the serenity of silence will ring.  But, for me personally, the real reason for climbing any mountain is always captured somewhere on the way up.  I believe a mountain is only truly conquered when a person reaches the summit a better human being than when they started.

As I was navigating the long climb up the Western ridge, my son was following my trail.  I never told him to follow my path up the steep slopes, but he did anyways.  He trusted me to choose and lead the best route.  If I had chosen a longer path, he would have followed.  If I had chosen a dangerous path, he probably still would have followed.

French novelist René Daumal once penned in Mount Analogue, “Be ready to answer to your fellow men for the trail you leave behind you.”

In essence, no matter where we go in life, we will leave a trace of our passage.  Even when we don’t intend to, there will be evidence of what trail we took through life.

High above tree line, I suddenly realized that I would be held accountable for the trail I left for my son to follow on the mountain and in life.

Somewhere near 12,500 feet, It became clear that I had better do my best to take the right path and leave a trail with no regrets.

At 13,000 feet, my son and I both felt we had a better understanding of ourselves and each other.

At 13,237 feet, my son and I truly conquered Hesperus Mountain!