"ThIS IS NATURE'S MOST WONDERFUL PIECE OF CREATION YET!" Dan thought aloud has he stood atop the mountain.
Dan’s passion for geography and geology was somewhat out of the ordinary. He would descend wells, caves and even on one occasion, a family tomb just to see how it was cut out of the rock. Although his mother saw it as a creepy kind of passion she nevertheless gave him the little support she could.
For years he thrived in his profession and seems to have lost his fear for the unknown until he got into near death experience a couple of years back, in Drakeland. There exist in this land a large mountain, partly rocky and partly soil and for centuries this height has remained unexplored. It had been rumored that in the distance past, when education was gaining grounds in the world and expedition and ancient discoveries were booming, a group of archeological experts have ascended this height but failed to return, no one knew what become of them and nobody ever tried going after them. They were lost in time.
During one of his explorations, Dan happened to be close to Tilosiats, a tribe that was believed to be descendants of people from Drakeland and it was here he heard about this great and mysterious mountain. Having an insatiable appetite for diving into the unknown, Dan at once mapped out his plan for the expedition and few days after catching wind of this great natural feature, he was on his way to the Drakeland. Three month after setting out for this strange land, Dan and his crew were at the fringe of the forest that circumvented it. Hundreds of miles away from where they stood, they could make out the gigantic form of this great mountain, clothed in the thick early morning fog. Dan gave a sly smile.
“At last, the myth comes to life, it is now reality”. He said.
For days they pushed on through this dense forest and went deeper and deeper into the forest, though closer they went to the town were the legendary people of this strange land were said to reside. The village was made up of round huts built few miles away from the base of the mountain on it northern side. About five miles towards the eastern side of the mountain from the town was a large river that flowed from the base of the mountain, the source of this river had been a mystery to the inhabitants of this village for ages as they had gone round the mountain and could not find any water source that feeds it, so it was believed the source might be at the peak of the mountain, how true that was, no living man knew.
Three days of pushing, slashing and tearing through the dense forest saw Dan and his crew enter the village. They were met by a thousand pairs of curious eyes of all ages, the people have not seen the face of strangers for a long time, at least none of the ones presently alive have. They have heard from legends that some men from a distance Land had arrived their land and ascended the great mountain never to be seen again but how little they thought they will also be blessed with such an apparition once again.
Dan had taken a native from Tilosiat to serve as an interpreter since they could pretty well understand each other. He was conducted to the hut of the chief of the people and they received a warm welcome which they little expected although they were not entirely surprised for though the Drakelanders were seen as savages, they were actually not so in practical. The inquired of their mission and he was told that they had come to try and get to the summit of the famous mountain and see what lies at the top. The chief smile slyly and told them that never in living memory had anyone ever made it to the top and returned to tell the tales, he said the mountain was believed to be the abode of the gods and therefore no mortal was worthy enough to get to the summit and return. Dan told him that the mountain was just a normal natural feature and can be mounted by anyone is as far as the climber has the necessary experience and resources. The chief looked at him and his crew slowly then said it was alright for them to go on and if they were favored by the gods, all may still go well with them, he promised to give them all they will require for the journey except a guide for he said he was not ready to send any of his people to certain death.
After taking several days to put their things in order, Dan and his men began on their strange climb to glory and fame or to death and an unknown grave. They took the northern side of the mountain since it was less steep at the base and has a lot of place that promised a fame footing. The temperature at the base and for hundreds of feet upward was quite warm but as they progressed, it began to get colder.
For several days they climbed upward, making little progress daily due to the steepness of the mountain as they went higher there was lots of boulders strewn about which needed some level of dexterity to get past them, it was around one of such boulders that Wilson, one of Dan’s crew members got injured as he used his used his right foot to hook himself underneath a boulder to prevent him from falling down the mountain. He twisted his ankle and he needed to be supported from then onward, this went a long way in slowing them down. As they progressed, they suffered terribly from cold and if not for the bottles of spirits and thick coats of fur that they brought with them, they would have gone to swell the numbers of the ones who have gone out of this world while climbing. The thick fog that clothed the mountain makes it difficult to see the top and therefore they could not say how far and how close they were to the summit of the mountain.
Two months from the start of their journey, they noticed the temperature had warmed up fairly well and visibility was pretty much improved. A couple of days hard push and they found themselves just outside what looks like a large circle with a depression in the middle, to their ultimate joy, they had reached the summit of the great mountain!
Taking out his binoculars, Dan settled down to surveying the area as best as the scope would allow. Looking from the foot of where they stood, he saw that place contrary to the rocky base and the surface of the mountain side, the top actually had a good supply of land and every green trees. Looking directly to the other end he was amazed to see that it was covered in snow and these snows melt and flowed towards the middle of the summit with looks like a lake and considering the years this has been going on, Dan believed the depression should have been filled up, except of course if there is an outlet somewhere beneath this lake. He remembered the river that flows on the eastern side of the mountain, at its base and he guessed that it was from this lake that the water, finding the depression as a sinkhole, happens to find a way to feed that river. How one mountain could have both a warm forest and another area with snowfalls baffled Dan and he resolved to find this out, to the very last detail.
“This is nature’s most wonderful masterpiece of creation yet!” he thought aloud
