From Charles Torello Photography on Facebook…

Grand Tetons. 10,000′.

The trail went from 7,000′ to 10,000′. It was the trail to Ampitheater Lake.

Now, I was 235 pounds doing this trail in August of 2021. There are 235-pounders who would hike at a brisker pace than me. But I did all right, though, at one point it wasn’t the most fun.

True, there is an endorphin high to enjoy. You sweat. Your heart beats. The air cools as you get higher. The ever-broadening panorama keeps saying, “Keep going up, fatty.”

Yet, there does come a point where it’s just not fun.

But you continue because the mountain messes with your mind. To turn around is to quit and not obtain the prize. To turn around is to admit that others are tougher than you – and that’s where the mountain most messes with me.

Then I got to Ampitheater lake. Going up was done, and this in itself relieves.

Then you sit for a while with your feet in the cold water. Then you get curious and go up another couple hundred feet on some sketchy hill to get see the view from above the lake.

Then you take this photo.

I’m not saying it’s outstanding. The dimensions are wonky. It was taken on my old Samsung 10 – oh to have had my Nikon then!

Still, for about two hours the pain in my legs was gone as I snapped 100 photos and panoramas trying to make the more distant Tetons flow into the closer ones for a seamless composition – whatever that means.

Regardless, it was a joy to be alive in that moment.

Going down was not so joyous. But whatever.