Rocky Mountain National Park

New Podcast: Driving Trail Ridge Road and What It Taught Me About the Grieving Journey

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What do a dizzying mountain road and the journey through grief have in common? In this episode, Ray shares a harrowing drive across Trail Ridge Road—the highest continuous paved road in North America—and how the experience mirrors the unpredictable, breath-stealing terrain of grief. With wit, heart, and the poetic strength of Edgar Albert Guest’s See It Through, you’ll be reminded that no matter how treacherous the climb, healing is not only possible—it’s inevitable. Pull over, take a breath, and get ready to feel seen. This is the episode your heart didn’t know it needed.

🔑 5 Salient Points:

  • Grief can feel like altitude sickness—sudden, disorienting, and difficult to breathe through, much like the thin air on Trail Ridge Road.
  • Rest areas matter—just like scenic pullouts on a steep drive, we need emotional space to pause, reflect, and regain our balance.
  • Lack of guardrails = emotional risk—there are moments in grief when we feel vulnerable and unsupported, yet we keep moving forward.
  • Perspective is healing—stepping back to see the “view” of our grief journey helps us realize how far we’ve come.
  • Grief is survivable—like cresting a mountain summit, there comes a day when you can look back and say with quiet strength, “I made it.”

Today’s Thought: Being Lost is No Fun

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I recently watched a YouTube video on how to survive if you get lost in the woods. I have been lost while hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park. I was fortunate and eventually found the trail back. We can get emotionally lost where it feels like we don’t know where we are going. It can get to the point of wanting to give up. The outdoors guide in the video provided some tips for surviving being lost in the woods I think are applicable to when we feel emotionally lost. The first tip was to stop and get centered, not to panic. That’s important when we are in a highly emotional state. If we stop and get centered we’ll calm down. Things always look better when we’re calm. The guide then suggested considering this calm space as our center and then heading off for two-hundred yards leaving markers so we can find our way back. If we don’t find the trail, he said to try another direction also leaving markers so we can return to the center. When we are emotionally lost, once we center ourselves, we can probe different directions, testing which direction is best for us. If we probe in one direction and it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right. We can return to our center and set out a probe in another direction. Being lost is no fun whether it’s physical or emotional. Find your center, wait until you’re calm, then gently probe until you find your way again.

Climbing the Mountain of Grief: Insights from a Solo Journey | Episode 95

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In Episode 95 of “Journey from Grief to Healing,” Dr. Ray Calabrese explores the solitary nature of grieving through a powerful metaphor of climbing a mountain. The episode opens with reflections on how grieving, though often shared in groups or with friends, remains a profoundly personal journey. It also touches on the frustration with political actions, like a bill being sidetracked, which brings personal grief back into sharp focus, especially regarding lost loved ones like “Babe,” who battled glioblastoma.

Dr. Ray draws parallels between his physical journey climbing in the Rocky Mountain National Park and his emotional journey through grief. The narrative weaves together themes of isolation, the unending nature of grief, and the unexpected camaraderie found with fellow travelers—both on the hiking trail and in life. The episode concludes with a philosophical reflection inspired by Bear Grylls and Sir Edmund Hillary on drawing strength from the mountain, emphasizing resilience and the transformative power of enduring life’s toughest climbs.

You can listen to Episode 95 on your favorite podcasting app or click here for Episode 95

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