The Simultaneous Summit Celebration, for the second year, did not have enough participants to justify more than one hike. So we went on one hike and included all other West Virginia highlands peaks over 4000 feet elevation in our celebration on marvelous outcrops in the Otter Creek Wilderness. Two groups of seven hikers began at the southern trailhead of Otter Creek Trail and proceeded among gentle showers and drizzle down the trail to a "certain place" where associate leader, Joe Collins of Preston County, led us up -- and I do mean up -- off-trail through gentle forest, and then more steeply up through rhododendron thickets for which we were not necessarily prepared.

As we climbed hand over foot through the rhodies, we called upslope to make sure we were on the right path -- well, path is not the appropriate word. Shouts came back to us: "Follow the torn bits of clothes!"

Behold! It was indeed worth it. This dramatic rock outcrop offered breathtaking views on all sides. We ate lunch as we picked stems and twigs off our clothing. The off-and-on drizzle only served to link us with the lush growth below us, a sea of green. Other outcrops showed up here and there on far ridges. We saw only wilderness, no sign of humans. We were exhilarated.

After lunch, we spent a few minutes in silence, each person individually exploring the top of the rock outcropping. One particularly weathered huge boulder, the highest place of all, sat on a very small base, offset in an unbelievable balance.

During our silent exploration, each person found some object and brought it to a central spot: a small white pebble, dislodged from the aggregate stone; a whole snakeskin; sand from a shallow hole, signaling the eventual disintegration of the entire rock outcrop; a tiny pine cone which would perhaps lodge in a sandy crack and become a tree; an owl pellet with plenty of fur; and raindeer moss. We spoke of our gratitude for this place and each other, people who care for this place.

It was really fine being together on that high outcrop.

Then the descent. Going down through the stone tunnels was rather different than going up. But with the help of the teenagers, who again ferried our packs down, we made it.

Back at the cars, we discovered that one of our vehicles had been broken into and a CD player stolen. This is not good. We looked around and found at least four other piles of broken vehicle glass in the parking lot, from recent break-ins. We encourage all hikers to be aware of this possibility and to leave little of value in cars while hiking. We also encourage hikers to report all such incidents to the US Forest Service and to the local police. On this day, very near the Summer Solstice, our group was both relaxed and energized despite the loss. The broken window would be fixed, and our spirits would continue to ring with the last lines of the song we had sung on the Otter Creek outcrops:

"The time has come/ to unite as one,/ the time has come/ to circle the Earth with our love."