Musings on Spiritual Matters

Hiking season is coming to an end this year.  The hiking boots are being placed in the closet until the end of May.  It was a wonderful year of amazing epic adventures.  The goal of the year was to accomplish 10 summits, but 12 sounded better.  We climbed some easy hills like Mt. Sherman as well as some difficult peaks like Longs Peak, which has had three deaths so far this year on it.  The best part of these trips were the time with some of the amazing people at Castle Rock.  Probably, the most rewarding trips were with the “bad boys” of Castle Rock.  These were the guys that were with me for almost all of the adventures.  These guys were ice, ice, baby.  When you look back in life you will remember and wonder, “where were you while we were getting high.”  We challenged ourselves and were successful.  “The Viper, the Birdman, and the Big Boss” were the best.  I also enjoyed hiking with “The Hammer.”  The memories of these trips are like boats on the dock, always mentioned through time.  No one can steal these memories and sail into an alpine lake.  I also made a dear new friend, “the mayhem” on these trips.  You might hear a roar in the night, but you know my friend is there next to me.  No matter how hard the trip was, there is always a mountain river to cool off in after a long day.  We climbed over 48,000 vertical feet this summer while logging over 65 miles of hiking.  I appreciate my wonderful wife allowing me to be gone so much.  Also, I appreciate a church that realizes the bonds that are formed in the back country are the strongest variety.  I thank the God of all creation for making a playground for “the Legend.”  One of the best trips was the teen guys retreat.  We had over thirteen guys hike a difficult class two peak called Mt. Yale.  All of the men were successful and were named by the Oracle.  My partner who will become a member of the “bad boy” club was especially powerful on this peak.  “The Hitman” is in line to take the place of those who have gone before him.  This is a sad post to write as I will miss the mountains.  These are not easy trips, and the motto is “making it hurt less” but we are men, made for the wild, not house cats made for the easy life.  You cannot touch this feeling, of standing on the peak, the highest peak in Colorado, with your friend, seeing your other friend who has gone before you, and knowing, without a shadow of disbelief that you are “the legend.”  “The mountains endure, but the footprints in the drifts hold only a little while, and then they melt away.”

Related posts:

1. Back to FHU for a Summer Class
2. Hiking Season is Starting
3. Hiking Season to the End
4. Review of “The Will to Climb”
5. Praying in the Mountains

Tags:

This entry was posted by Matthew on Tuesday, September 28th, 2010 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.