Heart of Darkness

Nature's Sword

I was not really sure what to say, looking down, not up, at the glistening peaks around me. Just penetrating the clouds, their snowcapped summits stood out against the dense green bases of the mountains faintly visible through the billowing white blanket floating above. Rivers flowed industriously through the mountain passes bringing with them the means to support more advanced fauna. Of course, this scene of life was only my view of one direction.

I spun around to see a sight that did little to cure my speechlessness. Valleys stained with a black desolation rumbled across the barren landscape. There were no trees or signs that there ever had been. The bleak earth stretched down into an empty gorge containing nothing but sharp, colorless rocks and a rough, dry wind wailing a broken lament. It was as if the land had been shaved bald. Off in the distance there was a stagnant, gray lake crowded with hundreds upon hundreds of dead logs. I was standing at the top of Mount St. Helens.

How could it be conceivable that two extremes could be so close to each other? A lush, rice environment teeming with life bordering dark world so dead is seemed beyond the stage of decay felt to paradoxical to be real. The top of the mountain itself seemed to be the barrier. While it too seemed comprised of volcanic rocks and long stretches of glazed snow, many plants and young trees had taken root and were making a comeback.

After two hours of pictures and naps a top the overhang of Mount St. Helens leading into the abyss, the group I had hiked up with was ready to go. Instead of hiking down, we tightened the straps on our backpacks, donned our rain gear, and took the fast way down. One by one, we ran as fast as we could with all our gear on and dove down the snow channels. We flew by people who were still on their way up, stopping only to transfer to another channel or a quick bathroom break. The speed of sliding down a mountain was thrilling, but I could not help but feel that eagerness to get down was amplified by the cold, depressing sight we witnessed at the top. It was as if we were running away from a silent, brooding monster that resided on the other side of the mountain and as if this beast threatened to expand into its utopian neighbor.

Once we got to the mountain's base and back into the forest again, we could look back up at the giant with