Goose just turned 4, and she did it on top of a 14,000-foot mountain. While she didn’t quite conquer the summit as planned, she did face her fears and persevered in difficult conditions, which for any mountaineer is the ultimate challenge.
Goose has always disliked the number four. It’s her quirk and she’s serious about it! Give her four jellybeans and she’ll push one away. Ask her to count to 10 and, on purpose, she will skip it every time. Ask her how old she’d be on her next birthday and the answer is “3 + 1,” never 4. So when her birthday came up this last week, I’d been worried whether she’d want to celebrate it or not, because I knew she was not about to turn the dreaded, awful, horrible No. 4!
But I had a plan in motion. Instead of focusing on her quibble with the number four, I’d decided this summer to give her a challenge to conquer the bothersome numeral, and we began training for her to climb her first Fourteener to celebrate and to take her mathematic idiosyncrasy on headfirst, to grab the No. 4 by its pointy little horns.
We hiked and climbed all summer, inching higher and higher toward thin air. We’d hiked in the mountains and in the high desert. In hot and cold, in the sun and in the rain, on days we wanted to and days we did not. We laughed, we cried, we sucked it up and did it. By Oct. 1, she’d made it to 13,000 feet on her own. When the morning of Oct. 9 came, it was time to go for it.
We loaded our packs with headlamps, hand warmers and cupcakes and took off for American Basin to climb 14,048-foot Handies Peak and have a birthday party in the thin air at the top.
Goose is tough, but nature can be a real mother. Snow, cold and biting wind have a way of taking its toll on even the best of mountain climbers. She kept at it, one boot in front of the other as long as she could. Even the marmots poked up through the rocks, shook their heads and whistled in surprise to see her trudging along.
When the summit was within reach, 200 feet ahead, we stopped to take in the quintessential 360-degree view. We’d been at it for six hours, through snow, ice, rocks and mud.
Goose was as exhausted as she was proud of herself, and it was clear in that moment that she wasn’t going to make the last 200 feet. It was cold, snowy, windy and she could see the summit of the mountain, and we stopped where we were.
It was a pivotal decision. There I was looking at her on one side and the summit we worked so hard for on the other, and the look on her face said we’ve made it, and I knew it was time to turn around.
What looked like a defeat for me was an accomplishment for her. We were so close yet so far, but in that instant I realized what mattered most was where we were and that it was exactly where we needed to be. The climb was a success, and the sweetest successes are moments in life that can be shared with someone you love.
This was Goose’s summit; 200 feet shy of 14,048 feet, and that was fine. Watching her believe in herself in the face of hardship reminded me that having your feet in the dirt and your head in the clouds has a way of keeping you grounded in yourself while simultaneously believing anything you can dream is possible. If you can climb through life’s obstacles in unpretentious fashion and with imagination then you will succeed where so many fail; you will truly live in a world you create instead of simply existing in one someone else decides for you.
Goose turned 4 in spectacular snow capped grandeur with a backdrop of jagged mountains pointing to the sky as if to say, “look at your place in this world little girl. We salute you and your effort to stand on top and take in the view!”
While we stood there for a moment I’d hoped she realized the best place to look when standing so high is inward because the spirit of an adventurer is even more beautiful than the rambling mountains as far as the eye can see.
What I learned in that moment standing high and looking inside myself is that life may have an entirely different route to the summit planned for you and that it may take more than one try to get there. I’ve been guilty of narrowing my view to the pinnacle of my desires and dreams instead of recognizing the process of getting there, but when you accept whatever mountain you are climbing in life then it makes the trail easier to navigate.
When all you are focused on is getting to the top and you forget to look down, you’re more likely to stumble along the way. Not long ago in my life, I’d have said I’d never have reached the summit of something my heart had wanted. The more I begin to look around at the footsteps I’ve left behind me and the beautiful trail ahead, the closer I stand to the proverbial summit of a dream, which just so happens to involve the No. 4.
Jenny can be reached at jennyandgooseoutdoors.com
