Envy is an element of the human condition. We all experience it at one time or another. My mother always warned me that envy was unhealthy, and I try to resist it.

A confession: I don’t envy rich men with big houses, fast cars, beautiful women, or even those with Cessna 180s on floats. But all my life I’ve struggled to suppress a reflexive envy of certain men — those with “the right stuff.”

I envy astronauts who land on the moon, Navy pilots who launch jet fighters off carriers, mountaineers who scale Everest — and Carey Kish.

These daring individuals have what it takes to undertake risky, highly challenging ventures I lack the stomach or courage to attempt. My mother would be displeased by my envy, though perhaps not by my sense of self-preservation.

Carey Kish, the hardcore hiker fro

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