"Something Shiny..."

There is indeed something shiny up there I thought, as I paused briefly for some water and snacks, halfway up this long mountainside. Something very shiny...
I had caught an initial glimpse of this reflected or projected light just a few hours after beginning this scramble route. Interesting as it was, I needed to focus more on the rock and scree slope right in front of me. But I did keep looking up though.
What could that be, I later wondered yet again - a bright shiny bit of something, a reflection maybe, or the sun glancing off a camera lens. Possibly even from another scramblers sunglasses. Or maybe someone who enjoys taking compass bearings from up there as they orient themselves, and establish what the many surrounding summits are. It could be the shine off the mirror of their compass.
It sure is shiny, I remember saying to myself a number of times, as I began to pay more attention to this puzzling yet beckoning beacon of something. The nearer up there I got to the ridgeline which led directly to the summit, the more curious I became, and the more this shiny something was to draw me on and up...
The closer still I went the more too I sensed some kind of movement of this shiny something. Someone must be moving it about as no rock would do that in such a way, and it seemed to be somewhat above the rocks for that matter. That will be nice I thought too, for some company up on the summit can be very welcome and the shared moments quite special. They must have gotten a very early start on the trail towards this scramble as my own alpine starts tend to be long before first light.
Once upon the ridgeline, with the last bit to the summit right before me, I could still see my shiny presence right there. The exposure here became more severe, so I focused in closely, and yet my mind wandered some to reflections of other shiny sightings too. I remembered past experiences of such summit surprises, glimpses of things I wasn't expecting, the glint off items that were to become treasured memories, and even the sun playing tricks with me and upon my sunglasses the way it does at times.
Finally, and as some summits do, that last bit of rock was right before me, and I could now stand safely and look all around. What should have been there too - was another climber, or some other kinds of things that would be the source of my shiny something. I knew this was a smaller summit up there, the highest on this corner of my map, but other than the rock itself, a small cairn, and the drop off on all other sides, I saw no one else present. Then, when I realized it was to be simply me and this summit, I went on and enjoyed my moments of wonder with those vistas, the musings, the cairn & summit register, and finally placing a few little painted touchstones for those who were next to wander up here. But there was still some time to ponder and wonder, what could it have been beckoning me on throughout my climb, such a shiny something it was. Yet nothing with that kind of reflection was to be found and that I felt only added to its mystery...
Then came the time to descend, and in those moments just before beginning down, which almost always brings both music to mind and a tear to my eye, I thought once more how grateful I am, even with these old legs, that my weathered motivation still gets me to such elusive and beautiful wild places...
A short time later, and as I always do, I paused to look back upon the summit block behind me. There, I caught a glimpse again of this mountain's shiny something, again with some movement up there too. Maybe in my imagination, or possible at another level of perception, it actually looked to be a wave, seemingly a brief wave, of something very bright, from my shiny little mystery, that ephemeral summit presence..... DSD