The path was narrow and steep worn into the mountain by centuries of feet the feet of shepherds and traders of wanderers like myself who had come seeking the wisdom of the heights It led upward over great slabs of rock where the lichen painted the stone in hues of green and orange where small wildflowers bloomed bravely between the cracks where the bones of the earth rose bare to the sky

As I walked I saw the land open wide below me the valleys green and brown and gold the rivers bright threads upon the tapestry of the land the villages small clusters of white and red beneath the shelter of the cliffs I saw the shadows of clouds drift upon the slopes and the eagles circle high upon the wind their cries sharp and lonely in the vastness of the sky

By midday I came upon a wide plateau where the grass grew thick and sweet where flocks of sheep and goats grazed watched over by men whose faces were dark with sun and wind whose eyes were bright beneath their hoods whose hands were quick and sure upon their staffs They greeted me with quiet nods offered me water from their skins bread rough and warm from their fires olives sharp with salt cheese strong with the taste of the mountain herbs

I sat with them beneath the shade of a great rock and we spoke of the land of the seasons that turned the face of the mountain of the storms that came swift and fierce of the stars that watched over their nights of the paths known only to those who had walked them since boyhood Their voices were low and steady their words few but full of meaning and I listened and learned and gave thanks for their welcome

The afternoon passed as we watched the flocks move slow upon the plateau their bells soft in the stillness the dogs quick and sure as they guided the strays back to the fold The light changed upon the land from the fierce white of noon to the soft gold of evening and the mountains stood red and purple against the darkening sky

That night I camped near their fold my fire small and warm against the chill of the coming night The stars came one by one until the heavens were filled with light and the cold wind moved among the stones carrying with it the scent of the sheep the smoke of the fires the deep silence of the mountain heights I lay upon the earth and listened to the night to the soft murmur of the flocks to the crackle of the flame to the voice of the wind and I felt at peace beneath the endless sky

The days that followed took me deeper into the mountains through passes narrow and steep where the cliffs rose sheer upon either hand where the stones beneath my feet were sharp and loose where the air grew thin and every breath was filled with the taste of ice and sky I walked beside streams that ran clear and cold from the snow above that sang over the stones in voices bright and pure I climbed to ridges where the world fell away upon all sides where the land rolled out in waves of rock and grass and shadow where the sky seemed near enough to touch

I met more of the mountain folk men and women and children who lived close to the land who knew the ways of the stone and the sky who welcomed me to their fires shared with me their bread and their stories their songs that rose into the night with the smoke of the wood their wisdom shaped by wind and rain and the turning of the stars I listened to their tales of old kings and lost cities of spirits that walked the heights of eagles that carried the souls of the dead to the sky

Each night I lay upon the earth and watched the stars wheel slowly above and felt the strength of the mountain beneath me the deep song of the land that spoke in silence of time without end of stone shaped by wind and water of lives lived close to the heart of the world

One evening as the sun fell behind the peaks and the shadows grew long upon the land I came upon a small lake high among the rocks its surface still and dark as polished stone reflecting the red of the sky the white of the snow the black of the cliffs that rose about it The air was cold and filled with the scent of water and pine and I sat upon a stone and watched as the night claimed the lake and the stars came out one by one until the sky and the water were filled with their light

I remained in that place for many days wandering the heights learning the ways of the land listening to the voice of the mountain breathing the pure air of the sky I came to know the paths of the flocks the shelter of the cliffs the taste of the water from hidden springs the sound of the wind as it sang through the rocks the silence that lay deep upon the land like a great hand

And when at last I turned my steps toward the lower slopes I carried with me the memory of the heights the gift of the mountain the peace of the sky the strength of the stone the song of the land that would live within me always