So there I was looking three hundred feet down a six-foot gap I had to jump across. Something about this short jump was really scaring me. I had definitely jumped this distance baefore, but never over three hundred feet of air. After several attempts to muster up the courage to jump, I opted for the more strenuous traverse around the chasm. Glad to be on the other side, I set up an anchor and belayed Will over. He opted for the traverse as well, and made me feel better about not having done the ‘jump’ traverse. Following the epic traverse, we finished the fourth class climbing to the top. We looked around and saw nobody. It was so nice. We only had to climb six hundred feet of sun ignited rock to get away from the mobs of camera clicking tourists looking up towards the heavens. I thought about the irony of the action and the name of the formation, in the fact that oh so many people only look up at Devil’s Tower. Will and I became two of the few in the world to be able to look down beneath our feet at ‘The Devil’s Tower.’
We added our names and a few words to the climbers log at the top of the tower. I looked through the log. I saw names and passages from people from around the country, even from other countries. Their passages had a hint of elatedness in them, all probably feeling the significance of sitting so high above the ground, on a summit that can only be reached through technical rock climbing.
I sipped some water and looked out into the distance. I thought about all of the other people that had tread here. The notables that had fought their way up the wide cracks and dihedrals of this tower. I thought of the ill fated skydiver that had to be rescued by a few climbers, who had taken the route Will and I now followed today. I am grateful to those people who went before me and had a vision to do something. They created a path for others to follow and have an adventure on. Some day I want to pave a path for someone to follow. It doesn’t have to be notable at all, as long as the person following has a good time. I give great credit to people being able to take that first great step.
Speaking of taking great steps. Soon, in about twenty days or so, some of us will take one of the greatest steps of our lives. On May 18th the class of 2002 will finish their undergraduate college career. They will be educated. Some are following parents, older siblings, or in other family member’s steps, becoming college graduates. For others they may be the first in the family to attend and complete college. It is for these students that the step on that day feels so large. So large and scary. Many of us have been in school or have been receiving formal education for eighteen or more years. We don’t know a life where papers aren’t due, or where there aren’t midterms and finals to study for. For many more of us throw a job, some hobbies, and something that once resembled a social life, and you have your college graduate.
For some of us this is a jumping off point. Some will continue to grad school and beyond. Many have enjoyed the ride and think it is time to move on. I am in that group. I would love to go to grad school. However, I need a break. I want work, climb, and continue with my life. So for now, the next educational pitch of my life is going to have to wait. I’m going to build a solid anchor and rap off of this route for the time being. I know that I can finish it, but I don’t want to finish it now. I want to be able to come back to it. I want to come back and finish it when I will have the sensory ability to take it in for its full value. I will miss the climb though; the movements, the people along the way, the views and the sense of achievement. There are other climbs to try. I will be back though.
I looked across to Will. We both knew it was time to go. I finished my entry in the log with some special words. I reserve the right not to share them with you now, you’ll have to get up there and read them for yourself. We packed up our stuff, and walked over to the edge. We set up our ropes to begin our rappel decent. I think Will looked back just as I did the minute my head went below the top of the climb. I, and I’m sure Will as well, knew we’d be back someday, maybe not together and maybe not soon, but someday, we’d climb again, read our words and add to them with added knowledge and experience.