Thoughts on Hiking on Kili. 2 of 5: Desolation

​The beauty of the five different climate zones one hikes through on the way to ascending Kilimanjaro is hard to describe. But it is the desolation and remoteness that impresses at this distance. The notion that you are removed from any immediate medical care, should trouble come near, underscores the nature of the desolation. Ancient wisdom embraces this moment. Early Christian mystics down to our own era actually seek out these experiences. For extroverts, there’s another layer of intensity about the sheer quiet of it all. Life is stripped down, elaborations of thought fall away, trudging one foot in front of the other. It isn’t so much clarity of answers to life’s issues that arises. It is a view and embrace of the very few things that matter, things being people you love. A calling to love most fully.