Go… No Matter What
I have been climbing for… 28 years.
Wow, that sounds cooler than it is.
As I have been physically conditioning myself for the upcoming expedition, I was reminded of a lesson I keep learning when I go mountain climbing.
When you get up and it looks like it’s going to be a miserable day, go anyway. Go no matter what!
Some of my best mountain experiences were almost missed because, despite a forecast of a sunny day, when I jumped into my car on my way to a climb, it was raining, super foggy, or colder than expected. There have been days that I would wake up and call my climbing parter of the day and say “Whelp, looks like the weather man lied. Let’s try again later.” then about the time we would have been at the trailhead or the climbing area the clouds would clear, and I would be kicking myself and complaining all day that I had missed a climbing day and now had to wait for who knows how long until my scheduled cleared again to try again.
Climbing Mt. Theilsen, in Southern Oregon 2020, It rained all the way to the trailhead, and was cold and misty most of the way up…
That is why I adopted the Go no matter what policy. In a worst-case scenario, you can always turn around, and I will be no worse for having gotten up early and had a rainy drive to a beautiful location.
If you have info that the weather will be good, then go no matter what. Even if it looks like the weatherman might have accidentally given the forecast for Hawaii instead. More often than not, when it’s dark and cold, the clouds are still hanging in there and will make those first steps the hardest of the day. You just have to remember that soon the Sun will come up and burn away the clouds, and you might have a beautiful day on your hands. At the very least, it will be less dark.
View from the top. Clear and sunny.
I was reminded of this principle recently as I went on a farewell hike in the mountains with some youth I have mentored over the past few years. I have always loved getting young people into the sport of mountaineering, and to be honest, when they catch the spirit of climbing, there is no finer feeling.
These two youths and my oldest daughter took me up a local peak just last week, and when they arrived at my house at 7 a.m., it was cold, foggy, and rainy. The hike up Pilot Rock is not just a normal day hike; it involves some semi-serious scrambling, and it’s not wise to do it in soaking wet conditions. A little damp is fine, but if it’s raining, you don’t climb.
Another day that started cold and cloudy, but ended up just perfect.
We jumped in the car and began the 40-min drive to the trailhead, and as we did, the rain only intensified. I started to think like a dad and mentor with extreme safety in my head. I had two recent high school graduates and my daughter to think of. The last thing I needed was for my mentees to have an accident that would hamper their college and church mission plans, which they are embarking upon later this summer.
As the trailhead got closer and the rain showed no signs of letting up, I asked, “Ok, guys, do we turn around and try a different hike with less risk but still brave the rain? Or should we press on and hope that the sun burns away these clouds?”
“We go no matter what.” Said one mentee, and she added, “I want to say I actually tried to get there. If it’s too risky to climb, then we hike in the rain and look at the bottom of the climb.”
I had to smile. The mentor had become the mentee. Go no matter what. Is it better to try and fail or never really try? I know my answer.
So what happened? Well, a mix of things. The rain stopped, but the fog never cleared. The climb was damp, but safe for climbing. We got to the top, but the view was limited. Was the hike worth it when we couldn’t see anything from the top? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! Climbing is not all about the view; most of my enjoyment comes from the people I am with and the joy of being in the mountains.
Climbing into the clouds and loving every minute of it.