“George Herbert Mallory, a British mountaineer from the early 1920’s, when asked why he wanted to climb Everest responded that he was doing it “because it’s there.” Mallory was probably wryly praising the adventurous nature of the human spirit rather than making a cryptic statement about life, but he did die on the peak a few years later. So, there is that fly writhing in the risk-taker’s ointment.
Having seen Everest and its mistress peaks from a plane flying into Lhasa, Tibet, I can assure you that the parallels between the most storied of mountains and Louisiana’s highest point are simply that they happen to be higher than anywhere else around. There is no adventure in summiting the generously named Mount Driskill. However, its 534 feet of altitude, which is incidentally the third lowest peak in any state, does still beg the question, why would you climb it? Well, you climb it because it’s there.”
Read the full account of our existential and literal ascent at Country Road Magazine or pick up a copy around town.
