conquering the peak.

several years ago, a group of us drove out to colorado after reading 'wild at heart'. our goal was straight forward and simple: be a man and climb a mountain. one thing he hadn't realized, though. we were, in fact, already men. men that were from iowa. real men that ate corn and beef. real men that couldn't deal with breathing at 10,000 feet. the climb failed. we felt defeated.
that is until we drove out to the rocky mountain national forest for a couple days. camping on the edge of a cliff. cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner over an open fire. watching the sunset from a cliff with the whole group overlooking a valley of dense trees and then rising up to snow-topped peaks. watching the sunrise from the same cliff alone the following morning and getting the opportunity to thank God for that moment (the silence that filled that valley is something i'll never forget). having to wait for rain so we would have drinking water. no deodorant. beards. man.
this was the best trip i've ever been on. six guys with same goal. even though this goal did not ultimately succeed, we all had the same purpose. it was an awesome feeling to be with five other guys that just wanted to be there. wanted to try something together that we had never done before. the journey was amazing.
now, a few years have past. i just got the e-mail today that long's peak will be the target once again. we know the journey now. hopefully, this time there is a destination.
august 15. 14,000 feet. man. i love it.