What is it, located in the mountains, that draws people to it so strongly? Why, in other words, does a person strive to go as far as possible into the mountains, and climb to the very peaks of the highest of them, risking his health and often even his life? It is difficult to answer this in short and specific terms. One must really experience everything that a traveler experiences in the mountains in order to understand this desire to rise as high as possible above the plain, i.e.,
It is necessary at some time to experience and re-feel that special mental state that only the entire environment of high altitudes can evoke in a person and which is not experienced on the plains. The immortal Heine says in one poem:
Climbing steep mountains,
You will groan like an old man;
But if you reach the top—
You will hear an eagle cry there.
And you yourself will turn into an eagle,
You will feel that you have become strong...
That you have become free... and very
Lost a little downstairs.
Consciousness of 060b0th strength and complete freedom - this is, mainly, what is felt like a breeze, lifted to heights. But in order to comprehensively understand the situation that is being discussed here, it is necessary for the reader to temporarily divert his attention from the main idea and get acquainted, albeit briefly, with the circumstances that usually precede and accompany the ascent to the Caucasus. Let’s assume that you, planning to climb to the top of a mountain, have already arrived at its base and all you have to do is climb from a height of 8-9 meters. ft., where you are on the eve of the ascent, another 5-6 thousand. f. or at least even 2-3 thousand feet. Let’s assume that you have already prepared everything for this ascent and, judging by your previous travels, you feel fit for 7-3 hour work after days. But all this is far from being enough. There remains one more fatal promise, which the traveler cannot hope to overcome, but on which the ascent is entirely dependent. This is a question of what will the weather be like tomorrow when you start your climb up the mountain? What if it rains, or even worse, the kind of fog that you have already experienced on your way, approaching the main ascent, and from which nothing can be seen two steps away during the cold day? That is why nothing provides you with such interest on the eve of the late rise as the opportunity to follow all the changes in the clouds covering the peaks you have planned, to make at least some guesses and considerations about the weather of tomorrow.
“Will tomorrow be a good year?” I ask the native.
- God knows! he answers, and in general, not one of them will ever dare to make any predictions about the weather in the evening, even in general terms.