My Tenth Journey into the Silence Within Myself

Yesterday was a tough day of hiking. We made it to the summit of Mount Khomyak. All around us were rocks of various sizes, covered in a stunningly beautiful yellowish-green moss.

These rocks create a special atmosphere and unique landscapes.

We really worked up a sweat climbing to the summit, and then we descended to the mountain meadow to spend the night!

How can I convince myself to get up… Through the tent’s flysheet, I can see that it’s already a little light outside, but there’s no orange or golden glow. “Maybe I shouldn’t go?

It’s probably all cloudy out there…”—I try to convince myself to burrow deeper into my sleeping bag and go back to sleep. Eventually, I get up and start putting on warm clothes, realizing it’s cold outside.

But what’s there to put on? I’m already wearing almost everything. I slept in a hat, a fleece, and a down jacket draped over my hips. It’s unexpectedly cool for mid-July.

My friend and I step out of the tent, head toward the hillside, and… I catch my breath. I see horses dozing against the backdrop of the pink dawn.

Down in the valley below us, everything is covered by a white carpet of clouds, in which the mountains are submerged. Ahead is a fence of tall spruce trees. The birdsong echoes across the entire mountain meadow and fades away somewhere beyond the hills.

I gaze at the beauty and rejoice at the chance to see it in person. What a joy! At the same time, I regret not getting up sooner.

After all, the sun had already risen, and I missed the chance to admire it just as it was beginning to peek out from between the mountain peaks.

This morning was amazing. It was as if the world had come to a standstill. Everything unfolded in its own time—slowly, calmly, and at a measured pace. The sun climbed higher and higher. The fog quickly spread across the mountain meadow from behind the hill.

The magic melted away on the tops of the spruce trees…

Can you imagine what dawn must be like after a day of rain and a gorgeous sunset? It’s bound to be something extraordinary, one-of-a-kind, and unattainable in everyday life! I couldn’t miss it.

A real luxury: after a long day of hiking, I set my alarm for 4:40 a.m. So I’d definitely have time to set up my tripod before sunrise and admire the views.

The night was cold again. But this time, I didn’t linger. I quickly got ready and crawled out of the tent. My friends didn’t join me—sleep had them in a tight embrace.

I walked over the hill and saw a glimmer of light somewhere on the horizon, peeking through the fog.

I mounted my phone on the tripod and began to watch. A cool breeze enveloped me from all sides. Clouds were racing by at tremendous speed. Everything around me was damp and gray.

I realize it’s cold standing out here. I decide to grab my sleeping bag from the tent and wrap myself in it. I try to sneak quietly into the tent, but it’s quite difficult—the fly and the inner tent rustle.

Satisfied that I’m warm, I return to my phone with my sleeping bag.

After a while, I realize that standing there wrapped up in my sleeping bag cocoon isn’t very comfortable. I go back to the tent to get my sleeping pad. I hope the girls sleeping in the tent will forgive me 😁.

Now I’m sitting on the sleeping pad next to my phone, wrapped in my sleeping bag. And not just the sleeping bag. The fog around me is getting thicker and is increasingly enveloping the entire horizon.

Despite the gloomy weather, birds are singing beautifully from all around. Hoping the weather would improve, I lay down on my sleeping pad. An hour passed like that.

I look around and see that the horizon is completely shrouded in thick fog. Somewhere, a beautiful, colorful sunrise is delighting the eyes of other hikers. I thought about how nice it would have been to sleep for another hour and a half.

I decided to pack up all my things and head back to the tent. Hauling my sleeping pad, sleeping bag, and myself into the girls’ tent was quite the challenge)) I fell asleep very quickly. We broke camp at half past seven.

Imagine my surprise when I saw sunlight outside. The fog had cleared after all, and the weather promised a beautiful day.

Sometimes we dream about something, paint a beautiful picture in our minds, and put in a lot of effort to get what we want, but reality turns out to be different. It isn’t necessarily worse than expected. Just different.

That’s how it was with the sunrise that day. I didn’t see the endless, multicolored sky I’d dreamed of in the first rays of the sun, radiating red and yellow hues. But I was once again convinced that every sunrise is unique.

You absolutely must wake up and go out to greet the new day so you don’t miss the amazing and thrilling moments that life has in store for us!

This was my tenth hike with Kuluar. Every experience is one-of-a-kind. It seemed like we’d already seen so much together. But every time, a new hike brings interesting discoveries and sensations!