Action-man, 13 June, Pilatus, Switzerland

I'm riding with my good friend Micah Hilliard on a gondoli through the Swiss Alps. From the bottom, in the city of Luzern, the hanging cars rise 7000 feet to the peak. They glide over evergreen forests and herds of cows, their bells echoing melodiously. There are three stations at strategic locations on the climb up. Facing the view at my back--which grows as I ascend--it would be tempting to get out at any of these stations. The view out over the Alps is pretty good even one third of the way up. The stations even offer attractions: cafés, a ropes course, a bobsled, and gift shops.

But one look forward reminds me not to get off just yet. The cliffs and snow caps are rising before me precipitously. The cable car tilts--angling steeply to overcome a pass between two peaks. There's more coming!

Turn back around. It wouldn't slow us down too much to stop for lunch, or to climb on the ropes course. Or perhaps it would. Perhaps we would learn to like it there, tasting one meal after another. Perhaps we'd build a village even, with fortifications. Would we ever miss the top?

I won't know. We stayed in the car, staring ahead "wide-eyed and ambitious," as my friend would say. We reached the top, and what a scene! Chasms fled before us. Large sheets of snow draped over the cliffs, like a tablecloth overa table's corner. Glorious light hit us smack-on.

Somehow this place feels like heaven, and this whole climb like everything before it. There's more coming!

Drew