Duty is an Icy Shadow

I had a friend. The type of friend that would lay down his life for you at any given moment. His name was Jacob. We grew up together in the heart of the Ozarks. When you live in Jasper, Arkansas there isn’t much to do. There aren’t any shopping malls or movie theaters. It is a pretty isolated place.

         The Ozarks are the oldest mountains in North America, and a lot of it is still unknown to man. A large part of this is due to the harsh topography of the landscape. But hidden deep inside of the dense hardwood trees and rocky hills is some of the best rock climbing spots in the world. Fifty foot tall sandstone cliffs untouched by human hands. The climbing community is rather small in Arkansas, which means that Jacob and I had the cliffs to ourselves more often than not. We would hike ten miles deep through the thick undergrowth to get to some of our secret spots. We would set up camp, and get ready to spend three or four days doing nothing but climbing.

         We did most of our climbing in late autumn. It stays so hot and humid through the summer and early autumn, that it is nearly impossible to tolerate the conditions. But towards the end of October it starts to get just about right. You know climbing season has hit when  you step outside and you can see your breath. When that old familiar chill comes upon you with a slight dry breeze, your palms begin to sweat and you start feeling the frenzy come over you. You quickly pack up all of your gear and hit the trail.

         One year we decided to venture outside of the areas that we were familiar with, to find some new spots. It’s not a big secret that a large sum of the population in the area use the land for growing marijuana. I mean it’s not like the cocaine business in Columbia, but it brings in a lot of the community’s money. With that in mind, most people turn a blind eye to the practice. Jacob and I had come across some grow areas before, but if you are respectful and don’t take anything, no one seems to give you trouble.

         As we ventured deeper into unknown territory we happened upon a growing area. We stopped and tried to decide how to handle the situation. We were out of our usual area and these were likely people that we didn’t know. We decided to walk around the perimeter of the crops and continue on. When we were nearly past the area, a man with a rifle stepped in our path. We quickly threw our hands up. He approached us slowly with an angry glare. We assured him that we were lost and just looking for new places to climb. He pointed the rifle at me. Jacob quickly jumped in front of me. When he did, it must have startled the man and the gun went off. With a loud bang my friend lost his life. The man saw Jacob fall and took off in the other direction. I dropped my pack and pulled Jacobs pack off. He was fighting for air, but couldn’t get any in. His thick red blood was gushing from his chest. Just as quickly as it had happened, he was gone.

         I wrapped him in his sleeping bag and carried him over my shoulder. I struggled with each step to get him back to the car. I put him in the backseat and headed to the police station. I had a hard time trying to explain to the police why I had the dead body of my best friend in my car. But after hours of interviews with different detectives, they finally believed me.
         They called in Jacob’s parents to identify his body. They let me explain to them what had happened. I expected them to scream at me or hit me, but they didn’t. Instead they embraced me and the three of us just cried.

         The police went to the area and  found the man that had shot Jacob. I was able to identify him in a line up. They police offered their generic apology and then began to gloat in their victory.

         Jacob’s parents had him cremated. They asked me if I would do something for them. It had always been Jacob and mine’s dream to go to Alaska and climb Mount McKinley. They asked me if I would climb “The Great One” and spread his ashes at the top. I told them that it would be an honor to be able to do that for him.

         So that following summer I boarded a plane to Alaska and took the long drive to the mountain. I sat there and thought of my duty in the icy shadow of  the giant peak. I thought of all the great climbs that we had together and suited up to take our last climb. My friend gave his life for me, so now I’ll have to live enough for the both of us..