No, really; this is one of those things that sorta “calls” to you, if you know what I mean. Like skiing the French Alps, sailing a boat around the world, or kayaking the Grand Canyon; that sort of thing. It’ll always be there, waiting for you - should you ever decide to go for it!

I’d like to think I could do it, if it came to that. Just don’t know if the opportunity would ever present itself.

No. That’s the funny part of the whole thing. One can adopt the gweilo mindset and be scared sh!@less, or adopt the native mindset and laugh all the way up to the sacred temple. And guess who slips to their death most? Or crawls back down on their belly cursing the day they were born? We choose what experience we have in life, and Mt. Huashan can be a death-defying torture test or an exhilirating climb already made by millions.

Mike

I’ve driven every inch of I-10 at one time or another, and I’ve gone all the way through Texas on it twice. You get out west of San Antonio and there really isn’t anyone else. At times, there weren’t even any radio stations.

She just looked at them with that “you boys ARE insane” look and told them, “But people die there. And you would die!”

I have to admit, those pictures got me feeling pretty queasy myself, but after thinking things through for a bit, I have a bit of hankering to check the place out. Good thing my travel budget will only cover short driving distances!

Mike

I think that post had a good point - there’s never a time when you can truly do nothing. Sometimes it just takes us “letting go” before we can see it, though. I agree too - it takes faith; faith that there’s an answer. And there always is.

Great insights, Amy - thanks!

Holey Moley Mother Maud! What were they thinking? Man, it looks like a trek up Mt. Everest would almost be safer, doesn’t it?

Um, anyway, I think you’re probably right - it’s that prefrontal thingie you mentioned.

Uncertainty takes a heavy mental toll because we have to use our high-energy-consumption prefrontal cortex to process what’s going on instead of letting our low-energy, pattern-matching brains take us down the familiar road in ‘autopilot’ mode.

I expect that this same phenomenon explains the experiences recounted in these letters about climbing China’s Mt. Huashan, which makes my Grand Canyon trek look like a walk around the block on a lovely spring morning! Notice how the western hikers swoon at challenge while groups of laughing Chinese stide by them as if it were a walk around the block.

Mike

Usually I prefer to leave my mistakes for all to see - it’s more educational for me. But this is something I believe is WORTH fixing (along with a note of explanation).

Thanks for the catch, Larry! Have some biscotti, on me!