One of the biggest things I was looking forward to on my current journey was trying to get to see the beautiful mountain in Argentina called Fitz Roy.
Its a special thing for me. You see, last year when I was recovering from my cancer treatments, I saw a picture of this mountain. I appreciated its beauty and majesty. I would look at it regularly throughout my cancer recovery and I even plan to make it the cover of the cancer survivor content site that I’m hoping to start one day. Back then, I wasn’t thinking that one day I would visit this place.
Two days ago, I solo hiked to the Lagos in front of this incredible vista in El Chalten, Argentina. It was a 20 kilometer round trip. The last kilometer to Fitz Roy had a 450 meter elevation gain!
Although I knew it somewhere in my heart, it was hearing Irish poet and philosopher John O’Donohue describe the power of beauty, and its connection to all that is eternal, that I really began to understand things. I kept that beauty close to my heart, and that beauty is part of what healed me and brought me to the point where I was standing there, in this place, at the base of this mountain. As I felt the crisp frigid wind sweeping down off the ice fields, my a heart was filled with gratitude for being able to see and experience such beauty in the world’s landscapes, and in the people all around me.