“Just the word trail is enough to get me excited. Something about the grandness of Glacier Park is like a drug. To be surrounded by its rare beauty produced euphoria. It also was addictive, you were stoked for the pristine morning to get up and hike into it.”

By Chapter Five, my friends and I had become possessed by the beauty of the mountains. We couldn’t get enough of it, and began to abuse our bodies in pursuit of sublime experiences on those Rocky Mountains. I pulled off a speed climb of Altyn Mountain in the morning before work, went to work, then at night after work was invited by Nate to climb it again in the light of the full moon. We watched the incredible sunrise from the top, but he earned himself the nickname, “Crazy Nate,” from some stunts he pulled on the way up…