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