By Eric Corson
Colorado is a land of rolling cornfields, harsh deserts, and wide winding rivers. Perhaps even more of Colorado's nature is revealed through its mountains. Colorado boasts wide mountain ranges, covered with forests, musical brooks and streams, and giant panoplies that can be seen from the top of the world-- giant arrays of folded land. The trail that a Boy Scout must follow to attain the rank of Eagle Scout is not unlike the trail that a mountain climber must take to the top of the world-- the top of a 14,000 foot mountain.
As I begin a climb on the trail up a mountain, I find the trail almost level. It goes up a little, consistently, but is coated in soft earth and pine needles, the air permeated with the scent of trees. There is shade aplenty and the going is easy. As this trail is, the rank of Tenderfoot among Scouts is. The requirements are not hard and were easily understood and were well marked. Older, more experienced Scouts in the Troop provided assistance, and they taught me the skills I'd need. They shaded me in their midst, covering for my mistakes. Here I learned the basic skill of work and the value of knowledge.
As I continue, the air begins to thin, and the trees grow scarce. The trail loses the pine needles, but is still soft and not very steep. An occasional bird song or the babbling of a nearby brook enrich my path.. I feel joy in the simple act of being, for that is the nature of this part of a mountain. So it is with the Second Class and First Class ranks in Scouting. They began to be a serious challenge to me, hard requirements with a lot of knowledge that I had to learn. They represented the first few stones scattered along the trail, stones for me to trip on, or to climb over. These ranks taught me the value of spending time on a project, to see it through, and how to apply organization to time, in order to get things done.
Above treeline, the trail is almost deserted. There are only a few others who have made it this high and most are only tiny specks on the edge of my vision. Breath comes short as I pause to decide which of the faint impressions in the grass will lead to the correct trail. I can see for a long way, and now that the trees have thinned, the top of the mountain stands rugged and strong before me. It looks to me as if a giant had clumsily dropped the rocks that make it into a pile. And it is far away, and extremely high. From my vantage along the trail, I can see how hard it will be to complete the ascent. This view from the mountain shows the Star and Life Scout ranks. There are large rocks, and a clear view of how much farther I have to go. These taught me perseverance, an essential to ever reach a hard goal. There is still beauty hidden among the rocks to those who look for it, just as there are still fun parts and jewels of knowledge buried within the Star and Life Scout ranks, helping a Scout learn to keep his eyes open and to watch the world around him.
Finally I stand at the foot of the last short ascent. The going is difficult and often treacherous. The rocks shift and slide under my weight, and there is no longer a trail of any sort. The only hint at a way to go are the small rock cairns built by other hikers, almost indistinguishable from the surrounding rock, but reassuring in their own way that the mountain truly can be climbed. As I pick my way over the talos, I fall some, slide other times. Once or twice I have to start back around and try a different approach. This trial is very similar to the trial of earning the rank of Eagle Scout. It is something achieved by only 2% of all Scouts in the United States. The process forces a Scout to learn leadership skills by taking his own path and guiding others along it. It is a harsh schoolmaster teaching the lesson of discernment, for some paths work and others don't. Much of the time, those that fail to work also can provide a stinging reminder to look around and to think a little more.
I rest on top of the mountain. The joy of reaching the top has faded, as has the agony the ascent sparked in muscle and bone. They have been replaced in full by the wonder around me. Alone on an outcropping of hard rock I can see everything around the mountain, for I am literally at the top of the world. Nothing around comes even close to the height I have attained, and the distant reddish folds of mountain ranges, the tiny pinpricks of light running along fragile ribbons of road, and the sheer distance from all that man can tame fill his heart and mind beyond its capacity to comprehend. There is no other place like this but here, my memory, and the next mountain. Perhaps on the way down I will offer words of encouragement to another hiker also seeking the top, or construct a cairn or two to aid another's journey on the last stretch, but for now I am too involved in enjoying the view.
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