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.