Reflection on My Unthinkable Pursuit

It’s been a year now.
A year ago Sandy & I were just turning in for the night for our 1:30 AM wake up to begin our assault on Longs Peak. 14,255″ of Rocky Mountain goodness. Longs Peak is a hike, (or as some call it…” a walk up”, but with plenty of exposure & risk) and we approached it with more than some trepidation.
I re-read my Blog post about that day and thought it curious how time changes our perceptions and memories.
Longs did kick our butts.
The heroes were real.
The Community was as responsible for our success (maybe more so) than any training or desire we may have had.
The lesson learned was about the effort.

I had been too tired at the time to offer any reflections on the day other than the points above. A year later, I may be ready….

This is my 3rd redo of this blog….I kept getting philosophical & deep and stuff and decided “what the heck is this”? I assure you there was plenty of “deep philosophy” running through my mind all thru the climb and the days following. Once the toenails grew back and the soreness faded the reality and fun of that day crept into my thinking.

I was fully prepared to fail that day. Truth…I could have turned and walked away at any moment during that hike. I quit the Boy Scouts, 2 jobs and smoking, but that’s about all the quit I’ve got in me. I have an aversion to the word “quit”….damn it.

My life hasn’t changed because of that day. But I think I have. First time in my life I know I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. Except sky diving…I can’t do that. Maybe eating snails….

Would I do it again? No. That day I accomplished all that I had hoped for and except for Rick’s broken ankle, all went off perfectly. It’s always stuck in the back of mind that while we were trudging to the top, someone had actually lost his life in a fall from the Diamond, just yards from us. I think we were meant to do Longs that day…I’m not sure there should be another climb for me. Reference the toenail and soreness comment from a few paragraphs back….

That’s all I’ve got, except to say that for the rest of my life, August 27, 2010 will always be the day I met myself and with the help of 20 something friends accomplished my “unthinkable pursuit”.

I offer again the quote by Teddy Roosevelt that John had sent me in the days before our attempt….

“It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.“

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