I woke at 4.45am to meet with my brave and slightly crazy group of friends, who were willing to sacrifice their Saturday for an adventure.

We were embarking on a 14-hour hike at Mount Wilson, a southern California landmark reaching peaks of over 1,700m above sea level. We met at the fog-enveloped mountain early in the morning, daring us to proceed along its back to the peak.

We took up the challenge and ventured into the fog. After a slight detour for some frolicking at the waterfalls, the challenge offered by the mountain was on. The rain soon began falling as the sounds of trees fighting the rain echoed throughout. We were fully protected from the rain by nature’s canopy of lush and towering trees, with only a few drops sneaking through to remind us of the on-going fury above us juxtaposing the serenity below.

The music of the flowing creeks, chirping birds and even the frozen doe silently staring us down from behind the trees carried us on toward the top of this challenging and constantly upward sloping mountain. The beauty of our surroundings punctuated by our own smiles and laughter carrying us to the top around five hours after we entered the fog.

At the top, we met many brave souls who reached the top by bike or foot. They were all huddled together, some covered in blankets, around various structures to shelter from the blowing wind and stubborn fog. We battled the cold, the wind and the fog with hot bowls of chilli and marshmallow ladened hot chocolate.

And after a few mandatory photo’s at the peak, we began our equally epic descent, taking a new route to the mountain’s floor. Along the way we passed steep canyons, contorted trees, flowers of every shade of purple, yellow and white and striking green vegetation, all covered in dew from the morning’s rain.

We also met other restless souls, from a young girl with the most beautiful eyes who was collecting seeds to a 57-year-old man running up the mountain with the ease of a gazelle, to a group of students with state of the art photographic equipment to capture nature’s never-ending beauty.

When we finally descended the mountain we were greeted by a giant rainbow covering the San Gabriel basin and beyond. Despite our exhaustion, we could not help but smile ear to ear at the day’s accomplishments.

People are fascinating. Nature is powerful. I truly believe God resides within it.

Written by my dear friend Alon.