“Lead on, Mac Duff”

This was my call as we made our way down St Helen’s. Unlike most people because of the issues I have with my knees, it is significantly easier for me to climb up then it is to make my way down. One of the men in our group took the lead and did everything he could to find the easiest way for me to get off the mountain. He would climb ahead sometimes back tracking and taking a different route going slow and making sure I made it. He could have gone on ahead and been finished probably an hour ahead of me, sitting in the shade drinking a cold refreshing drink, but instead he made sure we all made it down.

This man was only one of the phenomenal men that were a part of our group. Each went above and beyond to help the entire group succeed. I witnessed one man literally stepping up on a rock and then reaching back with his pole to pull another member of the team that wasn’t as strong up to the next step. Then there was the man that left the group to go back down the mountain with one of the injured members only to start over again once making sure that member was taken care of. And then the young men that took the lead and just for the pure fun of the climb brought along all us novice climbers. Finally, there was our leader that spent the day walking back and forth between the various groups spread up and down the mountain making sure everyone was safe.

“Lead on, Mac Duff” is actually misquote from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It was an emphatic declaration to not only head into battle, but to do it immediately. Every man in our group of climbers rushed head long into this fight and without them the battle may have been lost.

To each of those men, I could name by name but they would prefer I not because that is the type of men they are, I say,

THANK YOU.