I hiked my first 14er last week. I’ve been wanting to hike one for some time now but, like most things, moving from desire to action took a while. With a little help from my friend who has hiked a couple of 14,000 foot peaks I was able to do it!
We started hiking while it was raining. I admit the idea of hiking for several hours in the rain did not appeal to me but there I was and if the rain had plans to stick around all day who was I to argue? I figured we’d just make the best of it. As it turned out, it only rained for a few minutes of our hike and then some sun and cloud cover made for the perfect hiking day.
The hike started out easy enough. The trail was on relatively level ground with a few ups and downs but nothing difficult. My friend Tambra and I hiked along and visited and periodically took in the beautiful scenery. Our teenaged companions trucked ahead of us and Ginger the Hiking Dog redoubled her steps by checking in on both groups.
Eventually the terrain started to change and the trail sloped upward rather dramatically. The slight elevation gain we had experienced earlier in the hike began turning into a much more strenuous incline. It was at this point that I broke off from my hiking companions and turned my thoughts inward. Something inside of me clicked. I began channeling my inner mountain goat.
Each step of the climb became more focused. Each resting spot more savored. I became very intentional that my rests allow for adequate re-vivification but not extend too long so that my motivation waned. With each step I became more focused and more inward. And with each step I got closer and closer to the most challenging part of the climb to the summit.
In order to reach the top of Mt. Bierstadt, the hiker must scale a boulder field for about a quarter of a mile. As I grew closer to the boulder field I realized how much the process of completing a PhD mirrored the experience of climbing the mountain. Perhaps it was the thin mountain air that lent itself to my slightly hokey analogy but hokey or not, the motivational effect was profound.
When I first began a doctoral program I was eager, optimistic and full of anticipation. I’d never completed a PhD before, obviously, and knew little of what to expect. I finished coursework with the relative ease I’d always experienced in school and had no idea of what was coming next. As I entered the second phase of the process, writing my dissertation proposal, I found myself much more isolated and the climb to the next step much more arduous. I remain in this step of the process. I find the isolation disconcerting at times and my periods of rest are far too long and disruptive. I know, as I push myself along this path, that the boulder field of my doctoral progress awaits me.
While hiking I began to visualize the ways in which the climb to the top of a 14,000 foot peak could help me finish my goal and graduate. Already through the level ground and about half-way up the middle climb, I saw the middle section of the hike as analogous with the middle section of my doctoral process. On the hike, I reached a patch of snow that marked the beginning of the boulder field. I stopped walking, took a rest, and celebrated both completing that section of the hike and my future successful defense of my dissertation proposal. The patch of snow represented that defense and I basked in the coolness while anticipating the grueling climb over huge boulders that awaited me.
When I felt ready, I stopped at the bottom of the boulder field and looked up. All I could see were the massive rocks in front of me. I couldn’t see the summit nor how far I had to climb to reach it. But, I knew the top…the end of the climb…awaited me. I climbed over a rock. I climbed over another rock. For the remainder of the hike I was no longer walking but literally clambering my way over obstacles until I finally reached the summit. In my visualization I saw the boulder field as the final leg of my dissertation process.
I reached the top of the summit and took in the beauty surrounding me. For as far as I could see there were mountain ranges, one after another growing dimmer in the distance. I understand why lyricists have written about the glory of God being evident from this view. And then, after taking in the splendor of being, literally, on top of the world, I envisioned my future graduation and final completion of my PhD.
I believe in the power of visualization as a motivator. That day on the mountain I knew I could finish what I started both in climbing a 14,000 foot peak and in completing my doctoral dissertation. When I started the hike I simply wanted to accomplish hiking to the top of a 14er but when I completed the hike I felt a renewed sense of my ability to do whatever I set my mind to! Thank you Mt. Bierstadt!
