The Ascent - The Aches and Awes of a Mountain

This past week I traveled to Colorado on a mission to get to the top of my second 14er (14,000 foot mountain). This is the story.

2am. That’s when we woke up to start this whole journey. Packed up our snacks, filled up our waters and we were off. I70 to Stevens Gulch Road aka the worst dirt road I’ve ever been on in my life. Potholes everywhere and the best part? We’re going uphill on the side of a mountain in the 3am pitch black forest. Spoiler alert: we made it. But that’s far from the end of the adventure. Actually, just the start.

As we got to the trailhead, we found that there’s absolutely no parking at the top. Everyone that had planned on hiking the trail had camped out the night before. The parking lot was full. So, it’s 3am… we just traversed the worst road in America and now we can’t find parking. Amazing start.

After a little while of trying to maneuver a truck on a road that was built for a dune buggy, I made friends with a local that was doing his first 14er. He also didn’t have a parking spot. We eventually decided that the worst that could happen is we would be ticketed for parking in a no parking zone and we were willing to take that risk. So, we did it.

Up the mountain we go.

This was a “Class 1” trail, meaning, it’s going to be one of the hardest things you ever do in your life, but at least you won’t have to look for the trail or do any serious rock climbing. It’s all well marked and taken care of. Starting at 3:30am is quite the experience. It’s quiet, you’re in the wilderness, sky is clear and there are stars everywhere. Nothing quite like it. Trail was easy for the first half. Some elevation gain, but not terrible. Pretty incredible views. I thought, “man, I’d love if it were like this the whole way.” I jinxed it. Second half of the climb was a different story. Still a well-marked trail, but real steep incline and it remained that way for the rest of the climb.

Something interesting happens in your brain as you ascend a 14er. Maybe it’s the shortage of oxygen, your body breaking, or your mind telling you every step that you should turn around. It’s probably all of the above, but in the midst of that, you start contemplating life. Something about the mountains spark a little fear, intrigue and adrenaline rush that doesn’t seem to go away.

As you ascend to 14,000 feet, the mountains put it all in perspective. How small we are in comparison to a mountain, the earth, the sun, the universe and the God we all serve.

We got to the summit in just over 3 hours. You’re over everything. Over every other mountain, every town, every road, every car and every person aside from those that are with you on the summit. What a view. Then you remember… we still have to go back down!

Took another 3 hours to go down. Every step hurt. Sometimes, you’d step down from a rock and hit one just right and roll your ankle. Amazing…

We eventually got back to the truck and not a ticket in sight. A miracle! No, just kidding. The miracle was us getting up and down the mountain. Thank you, Lord!

You know… the summit was amazing. Absolutely breathtaking, but the things I’ll remember far longer aren’t the views at the top. It’s the 2am alarm, the dune buggy road, the parking situation, the thoughts I had as I struggled up the mountain… somehow those things bring me greater joy than the feeling of getting to the summit.

Not that I believe that everyone should be out there climbing 14ers, but I do think that if we all lived our lives with a little more curiosity and a little more of an adventurous spirit, I think we’d all live a little happier.

Experiencing all the pieces of life is what makes it worth living. The joy and sorrow. The love and heartbreak. A risk that works out. The overcoming of fears. The friendships that hold you up. The goodbyes that break you down. The trials of the valley. The scars that tell a story. The prayer that gets answered. The mountaintop that takes your breath away. And our God that’s bigger than it all.

What’s life without a little adventure?