The Manitou Incline - A reminder to keep going even when it's hard.

A few years ago I climbed the Manitou Incline. If you aren't familiar with it, it's at the base of Pikes Peak and is known to be one of the most challenging hikes in Colorado Springs. It gains 2,000 feet of elevation in only a mile. Some parts of the incline host a 68% grade and since it's made from old railroad ties, it's like climbing the most intense stairs you've ever experienced. Literally, I basically crawled my way to the top in some spots.

The Incline, as many locals call it, is not a fun little hike for the inexperienced. If you aren't conditioned, and really, only mountain runners are conditioned to do the climb, you'll likely struggle at least a little. You'll walk slow and steady. You'll stop occasionally to catch your breath and drink water. If you sit, the squirrels will come right up next to you and provide a little entertainment. You just have keep going and feel the burn.

The Incline has 2,768 steps and around 2,400 you think you've reached the top. You haven't. It's a straight lie. It's a false summit. The view is amazing but still a bit of a disappointment when you thought you were done. Perhaps you rest a moment, but then you pace yourself, and keep putting one foot in front of the other. You've come this far, you can't quit now just because it's harder than you thought it would be. You can do hard things! That's always my thought train when I hike it, "This is hard, but I can do hard things. God has given me strong legs and open lungs. I can do hard things." I say it over and over. And while I'm saying it, I think about how grateful I am to be able to do, even if I am slow and tired.

The first time I hiked the Incline, I had no idea how hard it was going to be. The next time, I knew what I was in for. I also wasn't fooled by the false summit. There is just a little more hard ahead but the reward is worth it and I can do hard things.

The past few years felt like I was on my first climb up the Incline. I was climbing up a mountain that I believed would end soon. I could see the top and trusted that rest for my weary heart was just ahead. And now, I've come to see that what I was looking at was just another false summit. It was the illusion of a change in scenery, the easement of my hardship, the end of the constant and exhausting climb, but it wasn't real. I was starting lose my grateful spirit. My legs and lungs were feeling weak and heavy because it was so hard, but I just kept climbing.

This year, I am still climbing. Only this time it's like I'm on my second climb. I know the false summit is there and I know I will have to keep going. This time though, I've settled in, pacing myself for the long haul, and knowing that I might reach a few false summits before I actually get to where I want to be. I see more railroad ties ahead and I know that I may need to get my hands dirty to make it to the top, and still, I'm climbing. I'm steady, pausing to take in the sights along the way, using those false summits to take a moment because I know that there will be many more steps ahead. I'm grateful again. I feel strength that I didn't feel before. I can do hard things.

As I type this I kept thinking about the spiritual lesson in it all. What does this teach me? Persistence? God's faithfulness when I'm weak? His provision? I don't know, maybe a little bit of all of it. I just know that when I need a reminder of getting through the hard seasons, I remember climbing the Incline.