Christ Loves His Bride

[This is my Faith Post for September 2024. It is a bit longer than normal because it is adapted from a sermon I preached at Grace on 8/25/2024. The text for the day was Ephesians 5:22-33 and it touches upon the all-important topic of marriage.]

Here is some good news for you: “Christ loves the church.” What wonder of wonders to hear and to inwardly digest such a thought. Now consider: "how do you know Christ loves the church?” Can you list in your mind the various things that Jesus has done, and still continues to do, to show how He loves the church?

Klamath River Overlook Trail

As my wife and I continued our Northern California tour we made it to the coastal section where we were driving south from Crescent City eventually heading to Sacramento. The Klamath River overlook was one spot which drew our attention for its scenic beauty of seeing river meet ocean. Upon arrival we found a nice parking lot with great views from there. Though when we arrived the river outlet was a bit fogged in.

I found the trail to be a fun option to try while we were there. It leaves from an obvious location on the southeast side of the parking lot with a sign there to help. It was very overgrown on the sides but enough opening in the middle to see dirt trail below feet. The vegetation was brushing up tight most of the way. In the first couple tenths of a mile I found numerous blackberry plants.

Cleetwood Cove Trail (Crater Lake NP)

One of the highlights of our Crater Lake visit was to do the Wizard Island Boat Tour they offer. This entailed a 2-hour tour of the lake itself and then 3 hours on Wizard Island for further exploring and hiking. We had scored tickets for the 9:45am tour and we made our way over to the parking and trailhead. We were disappointed that morning that we woke up to white-out conditions around the lake. At first we were just worried about the views. We didn't exactly consider the worst that could happen. Sure enough, when we arrived at the parking we went up to the ticket booth to check-in for our tour, as many others were doing, and we were told the morning tours were cancelled due to the weather. It was surprising. We had held hope things would clear up but apparently this is how they operate.

Garfield Peak (Crater Lake NP)

As my wife and I drove up to Crater Lake I was listening to some podcasts on the park to help pass the time. One of the notable hikes mentioned was Garfield Peak. Its not the highest point in the park but its up there. Also noteworthy was the fact that the trail starts from the edge of the Crater Lake Lodge. This was perfect for me as my wife and I were fortunate to be staying there. I began to plan out when in our busy itinerary I could sneak away for an hour or two to make the hike. It turned out this would work right upon arrival as my wife was wishing for a nap.

Sand Harbor - Lake Tahoe

One of the more popular places to stop and explore around Lake Tahoe is at Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park. It is a popular beach area with other recreation opportunities as well. We took it as a quick stop on our tour of Northern California and on today's agenda Lake Tahoe. We paid our entrance fee for the park (cash only) and found parking in the main lot. We hopped out along the beach and took this over to the boardwalks. The evening we stopped in there was a Shakespeare event going on closing some of the boardwalk. We made our way around the north and west sides of Sand Harbor taking in beautiful views of Lake Tahoe. There were a number of beautiful large trees that dotted the path. With more time we might have worked to find the East Shore Trail that hikes up the east side of Lake Tahoe from this location up toward Incline Village.

Trip Info:
Trailhead Elevation: 6,234 ft.
Distance: 0.88 mi. 
Elevation Gain: 35 ft.
Start Time: 6:30pm
End Time: 7:02pm

Good or Bad: We'll See

[As of July 2024 Gannett Publishing, the owner of Monroe News, has decided to cease publishing the faith columns in their paper.  This no doubt comes to the dismay of this writer and many readers of their paper.  Feel free to give them your feedback.  I have enjoyed writing the columns and am also blessed with all the positive feedback.  I hope to continue writing similar columns and publish them here on my Wilderness Wanderings Blog.  If you like them and have feedback please feel free to continue to offer it.]

I’m spending time in the last month reflecting upon my big ultra race experience on July 6th.  I was in the mountains of Colorado in the highest incorporated city in America, Leadville, which sits at 10,100 feet.  I ran a 50-mile race on the mining roads outside of Leadville and it was an incredible experience.  It wasn’t just the race itself, but the time with family the week before the race and also the months of preparation leading up to it that all meant something wonderful.

As I reflected on how the race and all my preparation for it all came full circle I was reminded of a fascinating scene that was released a few weeks prior in the popular kid’s show Bluey.  It was in the season 3 episode “The Sign”.  As Bluey learns that her family is looking at moving from their home she shares this tough news with her class at school.  All her little friends begin howling with her (as sad dogs would do!) at the news.  Her teacher, Calypso, goes into a story to help them along.  The story was called “The Farmer” and I’ve captured below the basic dialog:

Hocking Hills July 2024

Whispering Cave Hike

Hocking Hills Lodge to Whispering Cave

Trailhead Elevation: 986 ft.

Distance: 1.00 mi.  (1.71mi on Garmin)
Elevation Gain: 265 ft.
Start Time: 1:58pm
End Time: 3:09pm

This was a great family hike for us. We made it to the park to do lunch at the Lodge Cafe and then were looking to get outside to explore. It was more hot and muggy than we would have liked but we decided to give this a go. We followed what was a fairly obviously walkway downhill and east from the Lodge which was a connector to the Whispering Cave to Old Man's Cave trail. There was a nice trail staircase to take us down the hill. We had Ben, Noah and Anya as littles to aid along the hike. All of us adults took turns helping them along and holding hands. The first bit of the trail was a nice forest trail. It then headed down a rocky-like staircase area to a small overhang area with a nearly dried up waterfall. This led to a section where we were along the base of a cliff area. The trail rounded a corner in here and then a tenth of a mile later it ended at Whispering Cave which was an even larger overhanging cliff area with some waterfall going. The Hocking Hills area had been dry lately and so the waterfalls were not flowing very heavy. Anya was a great hiker the whole time and on the hike out was leading the way and full of energy. Ben also hiked most of it and by the end even dropped my hand and was moving over some difficult trail on his own. It was fun to see them take up the adventuring. The heat was real and I could see it affecting everyone which meant the hiking would be brief today. We all carried water for this hike to help out. As our first hike in Hocking Hills this was enjoyable and a nice introduction.

Leadville Silver Rush 50

2024 began with the hope and dream of running the Leadville 100 Ultra Race. It had become clear to me that I've been building and preparing for that adventure for over 6 years now. I have spent time on various parts of the route including Hope Pass. I have been envisioning what it would be like to run through the night and to cover all that scenery. I've even envision various members of the family pacing me along the way. I've been learning more and more about ultras and in particular running further and how to train the body to do it. Even my family summer schedule was lining up for this to be a great year for me to train and race it. I signed up for the lottery and was anxiously waiting by my computer in January for that welcome letter saying I had been selected. I had a good feeling about this. Until I didn't. I was not selected. On January 8 the e-mails came out and I got the bad news. The rumors of the difficulty of getting into the Leadville 100 proved true.

Mount Shavano 2024

It was 1998 when I last stood atop the summit of Mt. Shavano. Just long enough that I didn't have much memory of that first ascent as an 18-year old. In my adventures of repeating many of the 14ers and enjoying other peaks I had been wanting and waiting for a return here. As I was out in Leadville preparing for the Silver Rush 50 and wanting acclimation hikes this one eventually fit the bill. My brother, and two of my sons, Luke and Seth were eager to join.

Trip Info:
East Slopes route

Trailhead Elevation: 9,782 ft.

Summit Elevation: 14,230 ft.

Distance: 12.04 mi. 
  (inflated from the norm 9.5mi for Shav)
Elevation Gain: 4,755 ft.
Start Time: 7:59am
End Time: 5:18pm

Huron Peak 2024

This was my third trip to Huron Peak and it is one that I will always be happy to return to. It is a beautiful route and not overly difficult. The summit views are some of the best in the state. It is definitely a mountain worth repeating. Here in 2024 I was in Colorado preparing for the Silver Rush 50 race on Saturday July 6. We had Wednesday and Thursday free for acclimatizing hikes leading up to the race. The goal was to toe the line between getting some high altitude time and work without blowing up the body. I've done this a couple times in the past preparing for the Pikes Peak Marathon in 2016 and Run Rabbit Run in 2019. I also had my father, brother, and two of my sons along and we wanted to have a great fun hike and also a new one for my two boys..

Trip Info:
Northwest Slopes Route from 4WD TH
Trailhead Elevation: 10,588 ft.

Summit Elevation: 14,003 ft.
Distance: 8.91 mi. 
Elevation Gain: 3,835 ft.
Start Time: 7:47am
End Time: 3:26pm

Barr Lake State Park

Looking for a nice hike near Denver International Airport we happened to find Barr Lake State Park. It has an 8.8 mile loop around the lake as well as some short trail loops along the way. It was a 20 minute drive from our hotel on Tower Road.

Trip Info:
Out and back on the loop trail
Trailhead Elevation: 5,102 ft.
Distance: 5.97 mi. 
Elevation Gain: 52 ft.
Start Time: 9:54am
End Time: 12:17pm

Trip Report:
We parked at the Nature Center at Barr Lake and quickly found the loop trail nearby. There is a decent signage to point hikers and wanderers in the right direction. We decided to see if we could make out to the Rookery Gazebo. We were thinking about 5 miles. On the hike out we passed the "Niedrach Trail" loop and the Fox Meadow Trail loop and decided to walk each on the hike out. The trail was essentially a flat double track dirt road. There was very little sun cover out there so we covered best we could. It was in the 60s so we were staying comfortable for the most part. The views were beautiful looking over the lake and also seeing the Front Range mountains in the background.

Pinckney Blind Lake Backpacking Jun '24

This was my first backpacking adventure of 2024. Most of the year to this point has been spent training for the Silver Rush 50 which is coming up in just over a week. This adventure was an excuse to get away for some camping and couple it with my last big long run before the race.

Trip Info:
Potawatomi Trail Trailhead Elevation: 888 ft.

No Need to Hide

[Originally published in the Monroe News on June 21, 2024]

Do you remember those Southwest Airlines commercials from the early 2000s?  They were the “Wanna Get Away” commercials.  Lots of good, fun embarrassing moments in those commercials.  One of my favorites was the Ancient Art of Sand Painting commercial.  They show these artists working on this beautiful piece of sand art and a tour guide explaining how they had been working on carefully placing grains of sand for over eight days.  Another woman with a camera leans in to take a picture and then suddenly sneezes, ruining everything.  The narrator cuts in “wanna get away?”

In life’s embarrassing and shameful moments we are stricken with this innate desire to want to get away.  We want to run and hide from the shame we are feeling.  Its something we all share.  You see it in our toddlers when they know they’ve done something wrong and they hide in the corner or under the bed.  You see it in relationships when people don’t know how to talk to each other and avoid each other.  It is a part of our broken nature to hide and to cover up our shame and embarrassment.

Pinnacle Mountain Infinity Loop

Trip Info:

Pinnacle Mountain State Park West Trail, East Trail, Base Trail
Trailhead Elevation: 251 ft.

Summit Elevation: 1,011 ft.
Distance: 5.29 mi. 
Elevation Gain: 1,811 ft.
Start Time: 7:19am
End Time: 9:05am


Trip Report:

The Infinity Loop is a coined phrase typically applied to a special kind of route on volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and around the world. It involves hiking to the summit from one side of the mountain and then down the opposite side to the base, then making a complete circumnavigation of the mountain starting and stopping at the same base, and finally completing the route by going back up and over the mountain to the place where you started. The route mimics the shape of the infinity symbol which looks like a figure eight.

What is Truth?

[Originally published in the Monroe News on April 26, 2024]

The fight for truth has been around for a long time.  It had already become a battle at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry in the 1st century AD.  The Greek and Roman philosophers were already known for raising questions about truth and looking at it with a sense of relativity.. When Jesus told Pontius Pilate He “came to bear witness to the truth (Jn 18:37)” it is no wonder Pilate responded “What is truth?”

The question of truth goes much deeper into history than just the ministry of Jesus.  In fact, it goes all the way back to the very beginning in the garden of Eden.  When the serpent approaches Eve and asks “did God really say?” the fight over truth had just begun.  The world has been challenging truth ever since. The world has been questioning God ever since.  God has remained steadfast and unchanging in revealing His truth ever since.  Jesus came to bear witness to this one truth.  He even said “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. (Jn 18:37)”  

The Good Story

[Originally published in the Monroe News on March 29, 2024]

We need a renewal of good story-telling in our society.  So much of the new stories being portrayed have been overly modernized and have lost the values and virtues that we used to hold near and dear.  More and more we are being given stories that blur the lines of good and evil. We get stories that no longer teach or uplift.  We get as many anti-heroes lifted up as we do true heroes.  

What we need is a return to a good story.  And what is a good story?  It is one that brings together our families and communities in ways that help us grow stronger together.  A good story is one that inspires creativity.  A good story invites imagination.  A good story lauds and teaches right values and virtues. A good story should portray good and evil clearly and properly.

He More Than Get Us

[Originally published in the Monroe News on March 1, 2024]

We all enjoy having relationships in life with someone with whom we could say “he/she gets me.”  We look for people who understand us, who think like us, who enjoy the things we enjoy.  We long for friends and companions.

Author C.S. Lewis in his book “Four Loves” once described the very basics of friendship as being able saying to someone “What? You too? I thought I was the only one…”   We know the little quirks and idiosyncrasies that we each have.  We know the silly interests we hold.  How many parts of our lives do we think that we must be the only person on this earth who does that or who likes that. Until we find another.  A new friend.  Someone who gets us.  

If that phrase “gets us” rings a bell in your ear it is probably because you’ve seen the TV commercials being aired during major sporting events over the last couple years. They give depictions of Jesus and people of this world in various situations seeking to depict the Christian life and its maladies and then the slogan “He gets us” is used to as the overall message.  

The God Who Prays

[This sermon was originally delivered at Grace Lutheran Church on February 4, 2024. The sermon was preached for Epiphany 5, Series B and was on the gospel text, Mark 1:29-39. This sermon delves into the topic of prayer, the example of Jesus in prayer, and touches upon how we can expect God to answer our prayer.]

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you, Amen.

Our Gospel text from Mark 1 this morning is full of several mentions of wonderful miracles.  The healing of Simon’s mother-in-law is a delightful moment and one we’ll spend some time with in a few moments.  But first, we need to set the tone for our Lord’s miracles by setting focus on a different moment in Mark 1, a moment likely overlooked in our reading.

Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”  It seems almost mundane, so common.  Jesus goes and prays.  But we shouldn’t just gloss over this moment.  Sure, it is common, and that’s a good thing.  That alone is noteworthy.  It tells us Jesus did this regularly.  It was normal for Jesus to leave His disciples, to go out alone, to a desolate place, and there He would pray to the Father.  Jesus did this regularly because it was important to Him.  It was necessary.  Even as the Son of God in the flesh, Jesus kept this intimate connection and relationship with the Father.  He prayed without ceasing.

Seasons

[Originally published in the Monroe News on January 26, 2024]

Given that winter has found us in full force with days of sub-zero wind chills and even a few inches of snow on the ground it is time to talk about seasons.  Here in Michigan we are well acquainted with the four seasons of weather.  In fact sometimes the joke goes that in Michigan, you might be fortunate enough to see all four in a single day. If you don’t like the weather, just wait, it’ll be different in an hour.

As I write this the wind chill outside is -7 degrees.  Now don’t hate me for this, but I love the seasons.  I even love the winter.  So long as I have the right layers, I don’t even mind the cold.  Its not that I relish difficult things or the challenge of survival.  I just like the differing perspectives the seasons give.  I made the comment the other day, do you know the one nice thing about the temperature being below zero?  It sure makes those 30-degree days suddenly feel warm.