A little over 18 months ago, when I started this blog, I’d had a goal to climb a mountain over 14,000 feet, a “fourteener” in Colorado parlance. When that goal was quickly replaced by some other goals, namely living with a very serious illness, the concept of mountain was suddenly replaced. Our friend, Pat, was the first to point this out and it stuck with me. We’re all faced with mountains, some quite steep and treacherous. The point was to trust and keep putting one foot in front of the next.

When I got the reprieve from my illness (thank you, Lord, and so many prayerful and thoughtful friends and family), it was too late to even consider a summer excursion. I was woefully out of shape. I had pictured a fourteener when I was ill and hoped, should I recover, to get a chance to challenge one at some point. So, last fall, the goal reasserted itself and I’ve been hiking and doing a good deal of gym work ever since. Of course, the hiking and gym work has its own rewards. Staying in shape, keeping the blood pressure, cholesterol and weight down, and (in the case of hiking) experiencing our great outdoors. I’ve loved dawn and early morning hikes with my good friend, Tim, and several others who are occasionally available. Locally, Iron Mountain and Mount Woodson were the normal locations, with beautiful sunrises (sometimes following headlamp-led marches up the grades) and amazing vistas of San Diego County. Two hours away, Idyllwild offered up its own remarkable beauty of the San Jacinto range with trails like Suicide Rock, Southridge and Devil’s Slide to Taquiz Peak.

Throughout, I kept the challenge of climbing a peak over 14,000 feet on the horizon. Yesterday, friends Tim, Tony, Sharon, Catherine and I set out for Gray’s Peak in the Colorado Rockies.

To say it was hard, was an understatement. It would eventually require an ascent of 3600 feet, with loaded pack. I’d never been above 12,000 feet before. Normally, on hikes, you find at least short portions of the trail evening out before continuing upwards. Not this one. Looking ahead, all you saw was this big peak looming up. Perhaps a little melodramatically, but not entirely so, one of our party said it seemed like Mt. Everest. Up and up it went, very rocky.

At about 13,000 feet my legs all of a sudden got heavy, a sign of altitude sickness. Just a hint of nausea. I and we were already going slowly, maybe 50 yards at a time before stopping to let the heart rate come down and the breathing settle a bit. But, I had to slow down even more. Our five person group was spread out now but in contact by radio if not in line of sight. Tim and Tony had not had as much cardio work as I’ve had, so they were further back. Catherine and Sharon, who live up here and are avid hikers, were up ahead. I was in the middle, closer to the front. Eventually, the little spell of altitude sickness dissipated and I was above 14,000 feet, the peak only a few hundred feet above.

I know that there are many, many people my age and older who have faced much bigger challenges on mountains and in life than I have. I am just blessed to be where I am. Whether sick or fit, whether in joy or sadness, I can’t believe the gifts I’ve been given.

Those last few hundred feet, I was just talking to Jesus, thanking him each step.

And, then I was there. Exhausted and not a little emotional, I had tears and a few sobs. People who know me are used to my emotions. At the top, the other side of the peak opened up. I had a full 360 degree view of the majestic Rocky Mountains. Grays, at 14,278 feet is the 10^th highest of the 53 fourteeners in Colorado. The highest is just 162 feet higher. Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental United States stands at 14,505 feet, 233 feet higher than Grays.

There were maybe fifteen people on the summit as it was a busy day. We’d made a wrong turn to get to the trailhead earlier and that set back our start time by close to an hour. The rule of thumb is to be well off the mountain by 12:30pm or so, due to afternoon thunderstorms that are extremely hazardous when you’re above tree line. Unfortunately, Tim and Tony were still ascending as storm clouds were boiling up. With winds swirling at the summit and dark clouds gathering, we were still in contact with the two of them, telling them that it appeared to be too dangerous to continue. Scaling Torreys was out of the question. So, the three of us began our descent, joining Tim and Tony a couple of hundred feet below. They had just crossed the 14,000 threshold. Having all decided the day before not to do anything stupid, as the mountain will always be there, they determined the only wise thing to do was to start down. Not long after, the hailstorm arrived which, fortunately, lasted only about 30 minutes. Had we been on the summit, it would have been much worse. We reached the trailhead at 2pm, seven hours after starting. Honestly, my legs and feet were rubbery as it was so rocky on the descent. Thank goodness for sturdy trek poles to keep from stumbling.

After traversing the three mile dirt and rock road back in 4 wheel low at about 5 miles an hour, we were back on the interstate and headed home to grateful wives.

For some of the people on the trail, the climb seemed relatively easy. We even saw one guy running up. For others, it was a great stretch and more than a few turned back early. Age didn’t seem to matter. Twenty somethings from Denver appeared to have no advantage. One man carried up his child on his back. We saw a marmot and many picas adjacent to the trail and were treated to something special when we ran across a number of mountain goats on the descent, still pretty high up. A mother and her youngster were even grazing on the trail. We met some really great people and I made a new friend named Tom, a fellow Christian who is also an electrical engineer with Intel, based in Austin, Texas. His wife and two younger sons did not accompany him. We met on the way up and shared some life stories in the last half hour. I spent a short spell with a young woman named Alma, from Denver, who was struggling. I was grateful to see her at the summit just before I descended. It made one hopeful for humanity, sharing that mountain and the challenge with so many others.

Yesterday, I celebrated a milestone and am thankful to so many others who were encouraging and offered prayers and moral support. I am thankful for good health, a loving wife and sons, and for such dear friends and family who encircle my life. I ask that any gifts I’m fortunate enough to have be used to help life flourish for others less fortunate. But, today, a day of rest, I’m just joyful.

I’m attaching three pictures. Beginning, middle and end.