Category: Switzerland

Guided by Yellow Diamonds Part 2

Lightning strikes my leg as my heel touches the ground again and I do not want to lift it, I do not want the storm to come back. But I have to keep moving and so, less than a second afterwards, I lift my leg and take another step, bringing that piercing pain back.

But then I look up and see the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif… And right next to me are these mighty mountains coated by little boulders. The small rocks slide down slowly, its movement only perceptible throughout the years. And I cannot help thinking that there is something more to it, that maybe the mountain reached greatness and then crumbled or perhaps it was slowly detaching itself from that coat of rocks, trying to reveal its true shape.

Guided by Yellow Diamonds Part 1

In the chilly, misty morning, as I make my way out of the tent, I discover I have gotten a new blister, this time on the bottom part of my little toe. Hour after hour I have walked for the past couple of days, putting one foot in front of the other – sometimes just matching the previous step. But this is not tedious, and there is something a little poetic about it; how every step takes me further, no matter what I do or how much time passes, I am always advancing. You just don’t walk backwards.

Finding Closure Above the Clouds

I did not learn of my grandad’s passing until three days after it had happened. It was my own fault I guess, setting off to remote places knowing he was not in the best condition. A mix of guilt and regret were the first things I felt; then came the sadness and the thought that I could have been there. I could have visited and seen him once more, but at the time the idea of going on a mad hike around Mont Blanc seemed far more exciting than spending a couple of days with my grandparents in Spain.