Go Away Monkey

When Tom moved to Base Camp he hated doing the Lockhart Basin trail. The night before he would do water drops on Lockhart he always had trouble sleeping knowing the challenge facing him come morning. It's probably his favorite trail now. Lockhart has been replaced with one spot on Cliffhanger. Five or so years ago, the last time Tom rode Cliffhanger, on the return he crashed hard on a difficult uphill breaking his sun glasses, taking a cut to his nose, and various other scrapes and bruises. Tom made it up on the second attempt but he wondered did he pick the wrong line, is his skill level diminishing, or perhaps his judgment as to his abilities and line is gone. The monkey has been on his back for a long time. Five years older Tom feels like he's a better rider than when he got here. Today he'll find out.