Climbing a mountain in the dark is hard and can be quite dangerous. I don’t recommend it. However, having done so, one discovers there are certain benefits.

Ascensions

Breathless,
after climbing
the mountain's rugged face,
we finally reached the summit;
the darkness still in place.

Below:
the far horizon,
the coarse edge of the earth,
glowed slowly ever brighter
as the day began its birth.

Beside
ourselves, we trembled
in the dawn's cold crimson light;
that morning much more precious
having stumbled through the night.

Next poem: At the Water's Edge

Author: Jerry Dan Deutschendorf
from: Red Earth Whisperings
Part I: Nature and the Nature of Things