Read Online Hidden Courage (Atlantis) by Christopher David Petersen - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christopher David Petersen
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ridgeline.
Suddenly, the plane’s floats caught one of the bushes, causing it to slow and pitch slightly forward.
“Shit, noooo!” Jack blurted out.
Jack, quick in reflex, felt the sudden deceleration and instinctively pulled back on the stick, hard. As the momentum of the plane forced the floats through the brush, he heard the sickening sound of branches against metal.
Jack’s reflexive input on the controls raised the nose just in time to clear the ground. The floats broke free from the brush’s grasp as the saddle now began to drop away, down the other side of the valley.
The plane, having slowed form the soft hit, was now descending again, but descending down into the valley.
As the land began to fall away, Jack allowed his altitude to descend as he kept his nose low to build airspeed.
Moments later, the tiny plane had built up enough speed for Jack to raise the nose. He was now gaining altitude and in the clear. Far out in front of him, the valley now opened up and spread out wide before him.
“Yesss!” Jack yelled out in exhilaration. “Made it!”
Jack stared briefly at the broken twigs that clung to his floats.
“Wow, I don’t think I could get any closer without dying,” Jack said to himself.
Jack retrained his eyes on the valley ahead of him. With a sudden gasp, he saw it: Destination B.
“Oh my God, there it is!” Jack exclaimed.
Looking off to his right, he gazed upon the majestic mountain that had been the object of his dreams for over two years now.
Destination B was the highest mountain in the area, soaring 17,254 feet above sea level. The shape of the mountain was that of a pyramid, and it sat on a flat plateau like an altar. From a distance, it appeared as if something had scraped the snow off the mountain with a rake from top to bottom, creating long vertical furrows in its faces. The approach to the mountain looked difficult and the climb itself looked even harder due to the long, icy, fluted trenches that spanned the entire height of the mountain.
As Jack neared the mountain, he started to gain altitude. The maximum altitude the tiny plane could climb to was roughly 13,000 feet. It would take some time to get there, so he made large sweeping circles around the mountain as he inched higher. Thirty minutes later, he had finally reached the limit of the plane’s ability. He could fly no higher.
The valley around the mountain was as beautiful as it was rugged. There were deep canyons and rivers, as well as high snowcapped mountains that filled Jack’s field of view. At the lower elevations, he could see lush green forests and tiny rivers. At the higher elevations, the forests became sparse and less green, taking on a more brownish color due to bare ground showing through and becoming more visible as the vegetation thinned. Still higher, vegetation was limited to patches of scrub brush that dotted some mountaintops and passes. The elevation above 12,000 feet contained heavy snow and ice, a condition that remained all year long. As he circled Destination B, he marveled at its magnificence. Nowhere in the US could this kind of dramatic scenery be found. Jack was in awe of his surroundings and snapped dozens of photos as he flew.
By the time he leveled off, he had spotted a point of interest on the eastern side of the mountain. Even though the fluted trenches covered all sides of the mountain, there were two ridges, nearly 180 degrees apart, that rose up from the plateau below and connected to the mountain higher up. If someone were inclined to climb this magnificent beauty, they could eliminate half the arduous task of climbing from the bottom by traversing the easier terrain along the ridge, then continuing from the halfway point to the top.
At the base of the main mountain, and cradled between the two side ridges, sat a snowfield no bigger than a football field. It was relatively flat, but dropped off
Suddenly, the plane’s floats caught one of the bushes, causing it to slow and pitch slightly forward.
“Shit, noooo!” Jack blurted out.
Jack, quick in reflex, felt the sudden deceleration and instinctively pulled back on the stick, hard. As the momentum of the plane forced the floats through the brush, he heard the sickening sound of branches against metal.
Jack’s reflexive input on the controls raised the nose just in time to clear the ground. The floats broke free from the brush’s grasp as the saddle now began to drop away, down the other side of the valley.
The plane, having slowed form the soft hit, was now descending again, but descending down into the valley.
As the land began to fall away, Jack allowed his altitude to descend as he kept his nose low to build airspeed.
Moments later, the tiny plane had built up enough speed for Jack to raise the nose. He was now gaining altitude and in the clear. Far out in front of him, the valley now opened up and spread out wide before him.
“Yesss!” Jack yelled out in exhilaration. “Made it!”
Jack stared briefly at the broken twigs that clung to his floats.
“Wow, I don’t think I could get any closer without dying,” Jack said to himself.
Jack retrained his eyes on the valley ahead of him. With a sudden gasp, he saw it: Destination B.
“Oh my God, there it is!” Jack exclaimed.
Looking off to his right, he gazed upon the majestic mountain that had been the object of his dreams for over two years now.
Destination B was the highest mountain in the area, soaring 17,254 feet above sea level. The shape of the mountain was that of a pyramid, and it sat on a flat plateau like an altar. From a distance, it appeared as if something had scraped the snow off the mountain with a rake from top to bottom, creating long vertical furrows in its faces. The approach to the mountain looked difficult and the climb itself looked even harder due to the long, icy, fluted trenches that spanned the entire height of the mountain.
As Jack neared the mountain, he started to gain altitude. The maximum altitude the tiny plane could climb to was roughly 13,000 feet. It would take some time to get there, so he made large sweeping circles around the mountain as he inched higher. Thirty minutes later, he had finally reached the limit of the plane’s ability. He could fly no higher.
The valley around the mountain was as beautiful as it was rugged. There were deep canyons and rivers, as well as high snowcapped mountains that filled Jack’s field of view. At the lower elevations, he could see lush green forests and tiny rivers. At the higher elevations, the forests became sparse and less green, taking on a more brownish color due to bare ground showing through and becoming more visible as the vegetation thinned. Still higher, vegetation was limited to patches of scrub brush that dotted some mountaintops and passes. The elevation above 12,000 feet contained heavy snow and ice, a condition that remained all year long. As he circled Destination B, he marveled at its magnificence. Nowhere in the US could this kind of dramatic scenery be found. Jack was in awe of his surroundings and snapped dozens of photos as he flew.
By the time he leveled off, he had spotted a point of interest on the eastern side of the mountain. Even though the fluted trenches covered all sides of the mountain, there were two ridges, nearly 180 degrees apart, that rose up from the plateau below and connected to the mountain higher up. If someone were inclined to climb this magnificent beauty, they could eliminate half the arduous task of climbing from the bottom by traversing the easier terrain along the ridge, then continuing from the halfway point to the top.
At the base of the main mountain, and cradled between the two side ridges, sat a snowfield no bigger than a football field. It was relatively flat, but dropped off
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