Today it was time to unpack all the boxes that had crossed the ocean. My bed soon became a sea of flotsam and jetsam. At the bottom of one box were some old photos, including … this one.

This is a wayfarer brought back from time, from 1974 to be exact. The Toronto kid had discovered the Rocky Mountains of Alberta. He fell in love with the wildness of Waterton Lakes National Park. He led newbie employees of the Prince of Wales Hotel into the backcountry amid turquoise lakes, switchback trails, grand vistas and peace.

I know this guy. He still exists! Just a different flavour, more attuned to the beauty of an ancient city than to the sunset over the peaks. But in his heart he still wears the t-shirt saying “Get High On Mountains”. The slopes are different now. Music now is a stronger call than mountain passes but the joy of companionship within the adventure is still there.

“Let’s go there, wherever there is, together. Let’s peek past the edge of the world to see what is revealed. Let us be simple, feeling the rhythm of the legs and the notes. Let us be sweetly exhausted in the journey. Let us be free.”