Manitu Incline
This week, my son Liam and I drove to Colorado Springs to celebrate my grandfather’s 98th birthday. It was a special memory, and great to reconnect with cousins I have not seen in decades! While we were there, Liam and I tackled a challenge that’s been on our list for a while — the Manitou Incline — one of the steepest hiking trails in Colorado!
It’s a short hike in distance, but not in difficulty. Here are the numbers…the incline includes 2,768 stairs and covers a distance of only 1 mile; but over the course of that mile, you gain more than 2,000 vertical feet in elevation and face steep grades (up to 68% in places), and the summit / finish line is 8,590 feet above sea level.
Originally a cable car track built to carry materials up the mountain for pipeline construction in 1907, the Incline was not originally intended to be a footpath. But when the cable rails were removed around 1990, people started climbing. What was once a maintenance line has become a proving ground.
Lions do hard things. Not because they’re guaranteed success. But because those hard things forge us. Challenge builds courage. Resistance reveals resolve. Steep climbs are as good as leg day, and they teach inner strength too.
I want my sons to feel the burn and push past it. I want them to look up at the worst the trail has to offer and choose to go forward anyway. I want them to understand that any goal worth reaching can often feel like a near-vertical climb. Check this amazing verse out, though: “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”— Habakkuk 3:19. God’s power energizes and supercharges us. He doesn’t dissolve the challenges in our path, he enables us to overcome them! We can climb higher than we ever thought possible! Lion living looks like choosing what builds you, not just what’s comfortable. Climbing what seems too steep, one intentional step at a time. And knowing that the summit always costs something, but the view from the top is worth it. But here’s what surprised me the most…
As Liam and I chatted up and down the mountain, we started talking about who in our circle—friends, teammates, youth group—could complete the Incline. And Liam, at 16 years old, said something that stuck with me: “Can’t isn’t the opposite of can. The real opposite of can…is won’t.” We realized that most people we know could do the Incline — it’s hard, but doable. But how many of them actually would? And that difference has everything to do with will.
Will (n.): the power of choosing one’s own actions;
determination; a fixed and persistent intent.
It’s not just about ability—it’s about desire, discipline, persistent intent.
Whatever teams we lead—whether in ministry, business, or family—we want to pose Incline-level challenges, not just to see who can tackle them…but to see who will.
Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” The blessing comes not just to the capable, but to the willing.
What steep climb lies before you right now?
What difficult thing do you know you could do—if only you would choose to step up?
Let’s be the kind of people who will.
Let’s train leaders, teams, and families that choose the climb.
When we reached the top on Cinco de Mayo, it wasn’t just about conquering a trail.
It was a reminder that we were made to tackle mountains and to rise.
Keep climbing, lions…no matter how steep the trail!
Roar, “I will!” and go! One foot in front of the other.
The top will be in sight before you know it!
