Every now and then routine hits hard, and familiarity can cloud an appreciation for daily surroundings. All we need then is a new perspective.
So when friend and former advertising classmate Tessa Heeren offered me an opportunity to join her and her parents on an annual summer’s end trip to Colorado, I was ecstatic.
She laid down the terms and conditions and said we’d be climbing a mountain with her dad and his friends.
‘What? A mountain! OK. Sign me up,’ I thought. It would be a dream come true.
Turns out — it wasn’t any ordinary mountain. We’d spend a Monday climbing Grays Peak, the highest point along the Continental Divide in North America at an elevation of 14,278 feet.
Tessa and I have traveled together quite a bit (by plane, train, even hot air balloon), and I always enjoy her refreshing company.
On the way to Keystone, we stopped by Boulder to visit old roommates Kevin and Simone who are excellent examples that one could make a risky move out of Iowa and be rewarded with great career opportunities. We laughed, reminisced and caught up about our new lives, savoring our established company.
When the four of us arrived in Keystone, we were greeted with the warmth and hospitality of three Tama County families — the Kenkels, Steve, Charlene and Sarah; the Bauchs, Jared and Marilyn; and my fondest, the Heerens, Brent and Becky. The hosts graced us with welcome and provided the liveliest company of the trip. These seasoned hikers served as our climbing guides, full of learned advice and encouraging words.
As a group of eleven, we spent a few days going on shorter hikes to prepare for elevation and endurance. We went to Copper Mountain, hiking Mayflower Gulch, a beautiful and vibrant trail which led to mining ruins and Baker Mountain, a steep path which gave us fantastic views of the Arapahoe Basin. The leisure and sights were enough of a wonder that I second guessed a need to climb Grays. Could it get any better? I had to find out.
On a Monday, we arrived to the trailhead at 6:20 a.m. and set off to prevail upward and onward. After short stops along the way, we arrived five hours later to the summit and found ourselves amongst the clouds.
I learned a lot from our hosts that week, but the most important bit of advice I received from them was to take my time and enjoy the company.
Many climbers race up the mountain without much interaction along the way. They pass without looking up or saying more than “hello” and they don’t spend adequate time interacting with the mountain either.
But climbing with experienced and educated climbers was the most treasured and invaluable adventure I’ve ever been on. They taught a new mountain climber great advice: respect the mountain — understand its magnitude and appreciate its beauty. Take a break every now and then, savor the environment and see how far one has traveled.
I spent that week in mid-August in the good company of friends, new and old, and in the company of the lush, timber, rocky mountains.
As we sat atop Grays summit, eating a packed lunch, we absorbed the bright blue sky, chilly wind, airy clouds and a bed of mountains below, as fas as the eye could see. We enjoyed the moment with the people we shared it with.
It was an extraordinary, far from routine journey, and I had regained an appreciation for even the most daily surroundings.