Berg steigen mit Harpo!

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry- Berg Steigen mit Harpo!

Switzerland | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

These photos are from a trip through the Swiss Alps I took with my loyal travel companion, Harpo the Harp Seal, back in 2008. We started outside of Grindelwald and wound our way for a couple days through some spectacular landscape. I believe that the most rewarding beauty can be reached if you're willing to walk a ways to find it. I also believe that the more places you visit, the more your eyes are opened to the expansive possibilities that exist here on our planet, and the more you realize how much you still have to learn; about yourself, about your culture, and about others. These photos show Harpo at the start, looking over his shoulder to make sure I'm behind him. Progressing along the path, we absorb the majesty of the rugged, glacial Alps, as well as the exquisite intricacies of alpine wildflowers: both elegant representations of Nature's work. A stark view of the valley floor induces vertigo, but we find our feet again after this soft-nosed bovine friend leads us up the path to our rustic inn. Her bell (along with fifty others') woke us the next morning before dawn. This trip in particular happened to be one of my more introspective journeys, as hiking and solitude normally go hand-in-hand for me. But other travels, in more urban environments among throngs of people have yielded equally inspiring insights. Beauty exists in each experience. Scientists recently discovered a planet 100 trillion miles from us, with what they describe as potentially "a shirtsleeve" environment similar to earth's. This excites me beyond belief. But what's even more mind blowing to me, is that I haven't even begun to understand all that goes on here in this world: environmentally, socially, chemically, tectonically. It is my goal to learn as much of it as possible, and to share it.