Crossing Higher Ground: Poetry from the Mountaintops

What do mountains know that we've forgotten?Stand at the base of a mountain and it appears silent, unmoving, ancient beyond comprehension. But climb high enough—step by step, breath by breath—and something begins to change. The world opens. The noise fades. And suddenly, the mountains begin to speak.Crossing Higher Ground: Poetry from the Mountaintops is an invitation to listen.In this second book of the series, ecologist, science writer, and poet Rick Van de Poll brings readers into the rare and powerful spaces that exist high above the valleys—places where wind sharpens the senses, horizons stretch endlessly, and silence carries its own kind of wisdom.These poems are not simply about mountains. They are born from them.For more than fifty years, Van de Poll has wandered through wild landscapes, climbing ridges, crossing alpine passes, and standing on peaks where the human world briefly falls away. Along the way he has learned what every mountain traveler eventually discovers: the climb changes you.Mountains are not conquered.They are encountered.Every ascent tells a story—the effort of the climb, the uncertainty of the weather, the quiet exhilaration of reaching the summit. But beyond the physical journey lies something deeper. Mountains invite reflection. They strip away distractions. They remind us how small we are within the vastness of the living Earth.Through lyrical poetry and evocative imagery, Crossing Higher Ground captures those moments when landscape and insight meet.Within these pages you will discover:• How mountains quietly become our teachers• Why the struggle of the climb mirrors the struggles of life• How standing above the world changes the way we see ourselves• Why ancient peaks hold stories older than human memory• And how their wisdom reveals itself slowly—to those willing to listenMountains carry the memory of the planet within their stone. They have watched glaciers carve valleys, forests rise and fall, and countless generations of life come and go. From their summits, time feels different—longer, deeper, more profound.Van de Poll's poetry invites us to see through that timeless perspective.As you move through the book, you will walk alpine trails, pause beside wind-swept ledges, and stand in the quiet brilliance of high places where clouds drift below the ridgeline. The accompanying illustrations deepen the experience, creating a visual journey that mirrors the emotional and spiritual terrain of the poems themselves.But the mountains offer more than beauty. They challenge us.They ask us to slow down. To breathe. To notice. To consider the kind of world we are shaping and the kind of legacy we will leave behind. From the mountaintop vantage point, the story of humanity becomes part of a much larger narrative—the unfolding history of Earth itself.And that perspective changes everything.Crossing Higher Ground is both a celebration of wild places and a meditation on the lessons they hold. It reminds us that the path upward is rarely easy, but the view from the top reveals truths we cannot see from below.If you have ever stood on a ridge and felt the vastness of the world stretch before you…If you have ever paused in the quiet of high country and sensed something ancient stirring in the wind…If you have ever wondered what the mountains might say if we truly listened…This book is for you.Step onto the trail.Follow the path upward.And discover the stories waiting on the mountaintops.