Climbing the Highest Peaks The Plan and The Journey
hmm
i had it all planned out i mean really i
knew this mountain
and all of its details i’d never laid a
finger on the iconic
long’s peak the crown jewel of rocky
mountain national park
and in my opinion one of the most
beautiful places in the world
this mountain was over fourteen thousand
feet in altitude or commonly referred to
as a four-tiner making it one of the
tallest mountains in the united states
but i felt like i knew this mountain
intimately through detailed planning
i spent two years thinking about
climbing it and six months planning it
all
out i’d researched
topographical maps studied websites with
other climbers in their experience
called rangers to talk about the weather
and research all the gear i needed to
get to the top safely
when i close my eyes i feel like i could
reach out
and touch it and think about all the
sections and how i would accomplish it
i planned it out down to every last
detail i could think of
so when it was time to put my plan into
action i set forth with three of my good
friends and we took the first step
after hours of hiking everything was
exactly as it should be
we were making great time and everybody
was in great spirits
there’s only one thing i couldn’t plan
for
that was the mountain itself the long’s
peak
had a plan of its own that day
it’s not so bad right i told my friends
there’s words of encouragement to keep
going
but actually it was that bad so we had
just stepped through what’s called the
keyhole
where you jump from one side of the
mountain completely to the other
exposing you to different kind of
weather what we experienced when we got
to the other side
was 40 mile an hour direct winds and 50
to 60 mile an hour gus
can you imagine what it’s like to be
climbing for hours and have that wind
hitting you the whole time
and with the gusts strong enough it can
blow you right off the side of the
mountain
we waited for about an hour hoping the
conditions would change
nothing did that’s when we had to make
the hard decision
we decided to turn around and head back
down to the bottom of the mountain
we were within one thousand feet of the
peak
this was my first major mild and
climbing experience and it would end
in failure
i remember how disappointed i was there
were tears in my eyes
but i wouldn’t let my friends see it
after all that planning and preparation
to fail was devastating i asked my
friends
hey is there the possibility we can try
again the next day
but when i looked at their faces i knew
that this one experience was probably
enough for the trip
and they suggested a brewery tour and
i’m like hey i like a good brewery tour
i remember leaving with a sense of
something truly unfulfilled
but even though i had failed i wasn’t
going to give up on my goal
so over the next year i kept planning
and training
always keeping that goal firmly within
my sight
one morning i woke up at 4 am i was
ready to train
i jumped on my bike and i headed off
into the morning darkness i was less
than a half mile away from my house
when failure would visit me once again i
flipped over the handlebars of my bike
and fractured my left elbow i considered
myself fortunate
because i had cracked my helmet in two
so things could have been much worse
but this would completely push my plans
back
by mid-september i had healed and gained
strength and mobility back in my left
arm
this was a great time to summit but
there was only one other obstacle in my
way
my son was due to be born within weeks
of my recovery
now my wife elizabeth she’s very
understanding and very patient with my
mountain climbing
hobby we’ll call it but she said to me
you know eric i don’t think it would be
the best idea for you to be scaling a
mountain if our son shows up a little
bit early
being the smart husband that i am i
instantly agreed with her
and thus closed the window for another
attempt at long’s peak
i thought to myself you know maybe this
just isn’t meant to be
this isn’t my pathway but every time i
thought about the plan
it’s i could see myself and visualize
myself getting there
and so i kept on and the desire was
burning inside of me
so when 2017 rolled around there was no
injuries or additions to my family to
stand on my way
it was time to take the trip back and
attempt again
so with a few modifications to my
original plan and this time only one
friend to accompany me
we took the first step again
everything was going according to plan
this time we plan to be at the keyhole a
little bit earlier
so we could take in the sunrise when we
stepped across the mountain this time
the conditions were completely different
there was only a nice
five mile an hour breeze just enough to
keep us cool while climbing
so we jumped into long peaks last 1000
feet
the hardest part of it we climbed and we
toiled for hours
until finally i would stand on top of my
very first
it’s hard to put into words thank you
thank you
after three years and multiple failures
i would finally accomplish my goal
it’s hard to put into words how this
feels you feel like you can do anything
you feel like you could conquer the
world
the mountains have taught me some
lessons for taking on
life’s challenging endeavors first
you should always have a plan before you
begin that plan should help you to
visualize success
and will make accomplishing it far
easier
but just having a plan will never get
you to a summit
you have to have the courage to take the
first step
take a moment to think about a plan that
you’ve had something you’re passionate
about
something that you’ve maybe expressed to
a close friend or a family member
yes there are always things that could
stand in your way from accomplishing
your goal
even the best laid plans in the world
can be thwarted by circumstances
and conditions outside of our control
there’s only one thing that we always
control
and that’s how we react i could have
quit after i failed the first or the
second time
but i didn’t view these as failures i
viewed these as something much larger
these were simply moments on a journey
that i have embarked on
now the journey is the amazing part it’s
full of joy
it’s full of twists and turns and it’s
where the world work begins
see my journey in the mountain is really
just beginning my plan
is to accomplish the seven summits or
stand on the highest places
in all seven continents and attempt all
58 of colorado’s fourteeners
i set this goal after longs and since
that time i’ve become much better at
planning
at training and summiting when i first
started my journey
i thought it was all going to look like
this i shot this on top of
mount elbert the highest point in
colorado i was the first one on the
trail in the morning and i swiftly moved
to the top of the mountain
this is a story of conquest this is a
story of physicality
mountain climbing was a sport and i
wanted to be an amazing performer
that was my plan but not surprisingly
i would learn a new lesson on my quest
to the highest places in the world
when the plane touched down on the
tarmac and i’d finished my more than 27
hour trip
to tanzania africa i was ready to
stretch my legs
and get straight to the mountain i
entered into a small
airport and met a group of complete
strangers who would all attempt
kilimanjaro the first summit that most
everyone tries on their quest to the
seven summits
after a gear check and a breakfast
together we went through villages
and banana tree clusters to enter what’s
called the machame gate
this mountain would take seven days to
reach the top and back
and we’d reach a maximum altitude of
19 341 feet almost
one mile than i’d ever been in my life
in addition this mountain takes you
through five unique climate zones
each with their own challenges on the
first day we traveled through the
cultivation zone and the rainforest zone
at the base of the mountain
the group learned an important phrase
that day
pole pole which is swahili for slowly
slowly that would come in handy much
later on the trip
when we stepped into base camp after our
first long day of hiking
local guides had another surprise for us
[Music]
that was an amazing and rather
unexpected moment
i mean these were burly mountain men
carrying packs
who burst into beautiful song when we
walked into camp
by the end we had smiles on our faces
and most of us were dancing along
any thoughts of fear or doubt
washed away if only for a moment
but then i realized something this
wasn’t just a mountain climb
this is about immersing ourselves in a
different culture
learning about its mysteries and its
ways in addition i would get to know my
fellow hikers
when you spend a week together doing a
challenge like this
you get to know each other pretty well
one person sticks out in particular
when i first met her she described
herself as an extreme introvert
she was quiet if you didn’t engage with
her
she would hike for miles without saying
a single word
but i was curious i wanted to learn more
she was a marathon runner she’d gotten
into the sport mostly for herself
but she also was concerned about her
daughter’s health habits
and the path that she was on she wanted
to inspire her daughter to join her
and so they both got into marathoning
together and she changed her life
she was on this mountain to prove to
herself she could do something amazing
as we pressed on i would get to know her
more and more
and then she shared a secret with me she
said you know what eric
i’m not so sure that i can make it to
the top of this mountain
then i shared a secret with her you know
what
i don’t know if i have confidence in my
ability either
it was nice to know i wasn’t the only
one as we pressed on
her quiet dedication was inspiring to me
and kept me going along the way
upon the summit day i got about two
hours of sleep and we began the final
push to the top
we hiked for hours and we braked along
the way
it’s amazing in these kinds of
conditions how fast your body can change
you go from being hot to being freezing
in an instant
you got really good at putting coat on
to shield yourself from the elements
we traveled on step
step breathe step
step breathe pole
pole 13 climbers
embarked that day and when we were less
than 1 000 feet from the
from the top the team received a message
one of the climbers my introverted
friend
decided to turn around my mind flashed
back
to that fateful day on long’s peak
feeling of despair
and disappointment entered my body
i felt so bad for her i couldn’t imagine
what she felt right now
the group pressed on step by step
inch by inch getting closer and closer
to our goal
until finally after days of climbing
i would stand together with a team
and with friends on one of the highest
places
in the entire world
again that feeling i felt like i could
accomplish anything
i felt like there was nothing that i
couldn’t do but this time
i had 12 other people to share it with
who all felt
exactly the same way i did
i congratulated everybody and then i
went over to
survey the alien landscape that is
africa’s ceiling
my mind started to wander i thought
about my friend again
i wonder what she was feeling i wish she
was here to experience this with us
when we got back down to high camp
she was in the main tent i went over to
her
to express my sorrow but
amazingly enough she had a huge smile on
her face
she actually looked more chipper than
i’d seen her the entire trip
she looked at me and she said i didn’t
need the summit
i came here and i accomplished what i
needed to do
think about it she made it within a
thousand feet of the highest peak in the
world
how many people can say that she showed
more bravery
more courage and more appreciation for
the entire experience than any of us
and that’s when she taught me the most
important about lesson about mountain
climbing
you see when i started climbing and even
when i landed in tanzania it was all
about the peaks
even though that is a great part of it
that’s no longer my favorite part
it’s the journey to the top that’s
actually the best part
the beauty of beholding nature
the people that you encounter on the
trail and the people you choose to climb
with
it’s about sharing pieces of your life
and tents and on trails
and it’s about watching others beholding
the beauty of the mountains
in fact i met a friend who’s just a
little crazy in the head
just like me who also wants to
accomplish the seven summits
i look forward to standing in amazing
places with a friend and a familiar face
i received a card from my co-workers
before i embarked on kilimanjaro
in it there’s lots of words of
inspiration
and a lot of things that encouraged me
to get to the top
but there’s one quote in here in
particular that i carry with me on every
trail
i really couldn’t put into words when
people ask me like why do you do it
but when i read this quote it just kind
of clicked
and it made sense a ship and port is
safe
but that’s not what ships are built for
by grace hopper
i’m a ship that needs to be at sea i’m a
ship
that needs to answer the call of the
wild
and go after the pioneering spirit and
have a sneaking suspicion
that people in this room are also not
meant for the harbor either
i want to encourage those of you to plan
a trip to an amazing summit
for some of you yeah that might be a
mountain for others that might be
starting a business
taking a mission trip going on an
amazing trip to somewhere exotic
going a sabbatical running for office
or starting a family envision yourself
succeeding and everything that you need
to do all the steps you need to take
the gear you’ll need the guides that
will help you along the way to keep you
on the pathway
and yes you will need to prepare
yourself
to fail some people spend their whole
lives
saying someday i hope to or i always
have dreamt of
if i’d waited till i was really ready to
climb my first mountain
i wouldn’t have a single one to talk to
you about today
so make a plan take the first step
and embark on your journey but make
haste my friends
don’t wait too long because if you do
you run the risk of leaving this world
with a head full of plans
and no scars to show for it thank you
you