Depends which way you look at it. In my mind, the "mountain" is purely a metaphore. Logically the journey ends at the summit of a real mountain, but I figure if you have been strong enough to climb there in life's journey, then you have the strength to look beyond that particular summit and climb even higher.

I have heard that the journey down from places like Everest (not metaphorical mountains ) is actually more difficult than the journey up. hmmnn