Three Philosophers

This was one hell of a day. We hiked a little over 15 kilometers as the crow flys, but we do not have the wings to keep the distance that low. We had a steep descent out of the mountains, followed by a long and steady downhill through a lush valley.

On the way, we met a 75 year old man who was almost at the hut when we left it. This means he probably started his trek around 5:30 or so. I would have been fighting off the urge to pee around that time, followed by another hour and a half of dreaming about chasing people around with a Super Soaker that didn't work. He talked about his travels through the alps with his wife, and how he was happy that he could still get out and hike once in a while, even though his wife was paralyzed now from a stroke. He told us that his memories from his time in the alps with his wife have carried them both through the tough times they have faced, and that we should use the time we have while we are still young. Later that day we sat next to an old couple, and they delivered the same message about enjoying life when you can. Towards the end of our hike we met up with a mountain biker who tried to help us find our way to the little town we we headed to, and after he heard what we were up to, he told us it must be great that are able to pick up and go, just roaming around and checking out the world. He has cancer, something like leukemia, but he is beyond treatment. He told us to get out and do everything while we can. He was beyond helpful, and was out there tearing it up on his mountain bike, even though he is sick.

It was a good lesson that day.