JP Lisi has spent the past four summers as a Moondance leader. He’s traveled the world and impacted the lives of the people around him. From backpacking in the Pacific Northwest to trekking in the Chamonix Alps to rock climbing in the Italian Dolomites, JP’s experiences as a Moondance leader have helped him build relationships that still inspire him every day. It’s the people who kept him coming back year after year. This past summer, JP had the opportunity to lead our Kilimanjaro trip in Africa. At the end of the summer, JP shared a story about Hayes from his first session that we wanted to share with the wider Moondance family.

 

 

I Believe in Magic

 

By JP Lisi

 

Hayes would use the term ‘Moondance Magic’ and, ever since my first year leading, albeit ineffable and mystical, I have understood and felt that magic pulse through the special little moments throughout the past four years. It’s one of those if-you-know-you-know things. Serendipitous sparks letting you know you’re in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, doing the right thing. If you’ve had the privilege to work a season with Moondance, you know what I’m talking about.

 

This summer, I experienced the most magical Moondance moment of them all. On my first session of Kilimanjaro, my co-leader, Joanie Davis, and I were climbing strong up to Uhuru Peak on summit day. This was my first time in Africa, and to be able to lead my students up to the Roof of Africa was such an honor that I felt so Grateful for with every step. My last in-person conversation I got to have with Hayes was in his kitchen at the end of the prior summer, talking about this exact moment. He was describing the amount of magic that lives up there. Anyone who got to know Hayes knew how much he LOVED eastern Africa and Mt. Kilimanjaro.

 

During our final Moonup before our trek up Kili, I had the LODs ask the question, “Who are you dedicating this climb to?” There was no one else I could even think of besides Hayes Hitchens. I feel so incredibly lucky to have gotten to know him over the past few years. He is one of my greatest role models, mentors, and inspirations. Now, in this first summer without him here with us physically, I wanted to take him up with me in spirit.

 

Throughout the early, early morning on summit day, and the days prior, I couldn’t help myself but come to tears at the fact that I got to do this experience because of, and for, a man I look up to so much. I made a playlist for Hayes with the songs mentioned throughout his colorful, musical life, and started playing it at sunrise on summit day. It was almost physical, the way I felt his presence there with us that day.

 

This is where the magic comes in. My team and I had just passed Stella Point. It’s the point at which you arrive at the rim of the crater of the dormant volcano that is Kilimanjaro. From there, it’s the “point of no return”, where it’s a straight shot till the peak. We stopped for one quick water break between Stella Point and Uhuru Peak.

 

During this water break, one of my students from Atlanta tapped me on my shoulder, pointed at the ground, and said, ‘What’s that?’

 

He was pointing at a tiny red letter H. This little letter was completely alone, just a red H in the trail of black volcanic rocks that our trail was made of. No other non-natural things were anywhere nearby. It stood out, as Hayes would always say, because “the red makes it pop”. I picked up the H, put it in my pocket, and took it up to the peak with me. I got this photo of the H at the summit sign, and in that moment, at 19,431′ in the sky, I felt like I was getting a wink from heaven.

 

There was truly no other reason for a RED little letter H to be in the middle of the trail all alone like that. It stuck out. Just before the Roof of Africa, I felt as though I got an undeniable ‘hey!’ from Hayes. I really can’t describe it in any other word besides Magic.

 

JP holding the little red letter H at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.