18 The Next Taste
"The Spirit of Living" by Robert Mills Photos by Robert Mills
“Robert climbing 14,345’ Blanca Peak near Alamosa, Colorado”
Meet the Author Interview https://youtu.be/xmoL6kCjPVg
“
Wake up”, my father shouted toward my
bedroom, “we have to get going so we can get to the top before the snow gets too deep.” It was early on a Saturday in mid-winter in Morganton, North Carolina, and I was in the second grade. Thus, began my mountaineering career, now spanning 65 years and counting. My father instilled in me a deep love of the outdoors and nature, taking me nearly every weekend to climb in the mountains of North Carolina. I have since climbed hundreds of inspiring peaks in North and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including 56 of the 57 Ultra Prominent Peaks in the Continental U.S.
These so-called “Ultras” are not the highest
peaks above sea level, but the “biggest” mountains, measured from base to summit, the true measure of a mountain. People ask, “Doesn’t it get old, climbing all those peaks year after year? Don’t you eventually get, well, bored?” No! Every time I reach a summit, after hours, or days, of sometimes arduous climbing, and step up onto that highest point for many miles in all directions, and look out upon a vast landscape of nature, I get a deep thrill and experience a sense of connection with the universe and the grandeur of nature.
