Getting psyched for the Andes

Life continues to be hectic on campus as I gear up to preside over my 20th and last graduation ceremony at North Country School, as well as finishing last minute projects, before I hand over the keys of the kingdom to my successor.

That said, I am getting psyched for the Huayhuash trek, and some Peruvian mountain loops I will run with my daughter as a tune-up. (Of course, there is no way I will be able to keep her in sight.)

With the goal of stoking the fire, I have started to haul out a bunch of books from my extensive mountain library. Ever since Freshman year in college, when I always parked myself at a study carrel in the library basement, adjacent to the shelves of mountaineering books. For the past 45 years, I have been fanatically absorbed with mountaineering history, routes, literature, geology, art, history, literature, and culture.

With less than two months until I blast-off for Peru, most of my spare moments will be spent out on the trails, however I will no doubt fall have one of these classics on my bedside table.