Midnight on the Mountain

I had been fully aware of what I was doing - drinking over a liter of water at dinner. I had held the bottle in my hand and thought to myself, “You will regret this when you have to find the outhouse in the middle of the night.” But my tongue had cried out "Thirsty!" and overruled the logical part of my brain. After all, I had just hiked up nearly 1,000 meters in elevation and needed to replenish. And that’s how I found myself around midnight in a Swiss mountain hut dorm room, firmly ensconced in my sleepsack between Emily and the wall, farthest from the door, and needing to relieve myself.

I was doomed. There was too much night left to make it all the way until morning, and I knew that if I went now, my chances at comfortable sleep would only increase. Still, as became instantly clear, shimmying out of my sleepsack was going to be a challenge by itself, let alone trying to do so without waking Emily. I slid my body down until my feet touched the footrest, then pulled my knees up as much as the linens would allow. Trying my best to slide like a worm, I managed to sit up and free my torso. After repeating the motion a few more times, I had finally freed my body from blankets without any of them ending up on Emily. Success! However, there was no way to turn myself around with my friend mere inches away and a wall on the other side, so the hardest part of this endeavor actually came when I tried to get out of bed, feet first. The push up and over the footrest was no joke and took all my tricep arm strength as well as stretching myself to my full 5-foot-3.5-inch self.

Five minutes later, I exited the dorm room into the fresh mountain air, and all my struggle became worth it in an instant. Quaint little solar-powered lights illuminated the path from the dorm to the outhouse, but as I spun in a full circle out in the open, I was struck by how alone I was, outside on a mountain at midnight. Apart from distant cowbells tinkling at random intervals, there was hardly a sound. The air was fresh, almost sparkly with the leftover raindrops from the storm that had passed through. Above me was a mostly clear sky with the Big Dipper showing off in all its glory. Enough moonlight was filtering through the clouds that that snow-capped mountains across the valley were illuminated. Nature was grand and beautiful, and I was minuscule by comparison, yet my heart swelled to overflowing with worship. Because that’s what happens when I’m right-sized again in the face of my Maker’s glory.

pre-rain the night before

dorm beds at the Lobhornhütte