Well said ken4ord.
Yes, life is so much sweeter after coming off a mountain.... the smell of scambled eggs and coffee, and OH, the feeling of COTTON CLOTHES...... jesus that can be pure sweet bliss!
Its been helpful to think of mountaineering as a type of "extreme endurance sport", because they certainly sheds light on the addictive qualities I discussed.
And as for the 'fantastic-ness' or loligaging....... man, I can do that with tremendous style! Just give me a deserted high alpine lake in the middle of August....and I can lay around naked all day long! Just smelling flowers, napping, getting tan, becoming more of a hippie at every passing moment!
I'm sure glad that mountain-folk still make up a small percentage of the population... because that would just ruin the whole "laying around naked" part...