At that moment, I stood there 1,329 ft above the ground staring down absorbing the beauty of the lake and nature. Trees as tall as they mountain I’m standing on, but yet they looked like flowers. As I turn and look at the lakefront, I feel a shiver go down my spine; It looks as if I am staring at a 12 carat diamond. I see the sun glistening off the sandy shore. Staring into the distance, it is like I can see people that almost do not exist.

I close my eyes to take a deep breath of the purest air I can smell—the red oak, and maple. Me and Matt continue to walk along the hiking path. I see this straight drop right next to me. I lean over and throw a small pebble off the cliff beside me. I see it fall, and fall, and fall, and finally hit the ground. Jokingly, I say to my friend, “well, I hope you don’t fall.”

Arriving at a turn in the path, I stare at the yellow honeysuckle in front of me. I see a butterfly land on it. I put my hand by him, but as I do so, he flies away. I turn to my friend with a disappointed look on my face. I see him pointing at my hat, I remove it from my head and there it is: a monarch butterfly with bright blue stripes going down its wings, sitting on my hat. I glance at my friend with the biggest grin on my face.

“Isn’t nature something?” he asks.

As we climb higher, I feel the temperature gradually decrease.

There, me and Matt stand at the peak of the mountain, blood rushing through our bodies like it’s game night. As I stand there absorbing the beauty of the moment, my friend reaches into his pocket for his phone. 

“Put that away,” I say. “Memories aren’t created on what we record. They’re created by what we do with our loved ones.” 

There’s no way I’ll forget this moment. I don’t need to take a picture because I’ll always have a mental picture.

As we descend back, we decide to not take the path and rock climb down instead. We come to a platform where we have two options: up or down. I take a brief moment to sit their, feet dangling off the edge. I take one last deep breath of this magical, medicinal, marvelous air. I inhale and feel the heaviness and cleanliness of the air. I slowly exhale, and think, life can’t get much better. 

As we finally find our way to make it to the ground, I look around at the captivating pine trees. The smell of columbines, prairies, and coreopsis fill my nose. As I breathe in, all my bad thoughts seem to be lifted. I know I am not home but the way nature is so inviting I feel like I am.

We continue to walk out of nature's playground, trying to take in all the little things. I see a frog the size of a penny trying hard just to survive. I put my hand down and he hops right into it. I don’t want to let him go but I know I couldn’t separate him from his family. 

I walk back into the forest, the bright green soft grass on the tree stubs making it look like a sylvan forest. I set the frog down on an old rough branch. He sits there for a minute staring at me. 

“Go leave me alone you have to be free,” I shout. He turns and hops. I stood there for a minute and think, never forget this wonder of nature.