THOUGHTS ON LUCAS DUNN

May 17^th, 2013, 3:02PM:

“Need to talk, where are you?”

I read this text message while a helicopter buzzes a few hundred feet above my head and Goose bumps run across my body.   Minutes later I hear the details and story of the events that took place a few hours earlier.

 

Idyllwild is a small town, and tragic events rip through it quickly.  Over the last few days there have been many conversations, thoughts and emotions surrounding what one person described as, “Not even a climbing accident, it was more like an act of God.”

I moved back to Idyllwild the same summer Lucas was learning to climb and began working at Nomad.  I’ve known his family for years, but my connection to him was through a desire for adventure, a passion for the outdoors and a love of the movement one experiences while climbing.

When I think about Lucas, I think about the values that he embodied: respect, passion, integrity, creativity, aspiration, inspiration and a sense of contribution to the community he is a part of.  Lucas understood and knew exactly who he was and what he stood for.

It’s only my opinion, and I might be right or wrong: he left his physical body in a place that he loved, in a place that brought him happiness, challenge and joy, and that his spirit is still there, moving over stone.

I encourage you to heed the words of John Muir, and make a pilgrimage to Tahquitz rock, “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of autumn.”