A new anthology from Sierra Club Books helps explain our affair with mountains. Some of the reasons are obvious, even deceptively so. For believers, mountains are the closest points on the planet to the homes of the gods, connecting the spirit world with our own.
Mountains hold obvious dominion over the land, stern royalty gazing down on their lowly subjects.
And, of course, mountains are high places, and many people fear heights. From terror grows a kind of grace. The nature of mountains embodies the gift by which God enables us to live holy lives, Saint Francis said. They change our being. Those who are leaving it for ever are never alone.