Songs from the Old West

On Summit Day we celebrated climbing to the top of the mountain. Week One all 29 of us made it up to the top of Uncompaghre. Week Two, 24 of 27 made it to the top of Mt. Handies. It was so much fun that we had to celebrate...and what better way than a song. There really are two variations to this song, one for Uncompaghre and the other for Old Man Handies....(to the tune of "Oh Susanah") Oh I come from Kansas City With my gear all in a pack I come to climb me up a hill I surely will come back Uncompaghre, you ain’t too tall for me Well I come out west some hills to climb And pretty sights to see. I drove so long I went to sleep And when I woke again I looked outside and said it’s flat Where do those hills begin. Uncompaghre, you ain’t too tall for me Well I come out west some hills to climb And pretty sights to see The hike we went on the first day Bout did me in you know My knees were sore, my back it ached And then there were my toes Uncompaghre, you ain’t too tall for me Well I come out west some hills to climb And pretty sights to see. As we went up the air got thin It was so hard to breathe We took a break and we sat down I thought to take my ease. Then someone said it’s not too far I think I see the top I said I’ll wait here for the car I need an ice cold pop Cause GORP and candy and snacks are getting old and if I go much farther on I’m sure that I’ll get cold. They drug me on I made it up I glad I got up here The views are great, the friends are good The Lord has calmed my fears Old Uncompaghre, you ain’t too tall for me Well I come out west some hills to climb And pretty sights to see One more task, I’ll bet your tired Of more than just this song The ride back home it can’t be far I sure it won’t take long Old Uncompaghre, you ain’t too tall for me Well I come out west some hills to climb And pretty sights to see Way to go guys! Uncompaghre was distinctive, ...but Handies had incredible wildflowers! More photos on my photobucket page. Click on the link in the right hand column.

Back Home Again--family email

Well I got home last night and have had an entire day back and am still tired. I don’t know why. Over the past 12 days I rode or drove on two 810 mile trips (14-15 hours). The highlight on the way out was lunch and supper at Subway (in two different towns)! In between the bookend drive days, I climbed more than 17000 vertical feet and hiked almost 50 miles. Some of it had a really heavy pack on my back—I would need to pack less and lighter to do it again. I summitted two new mountains to bring my 14ers total to 7 (out of 54). I failed on the way up to Challenger Point—not a physical bonk, but an emotional one. The main mountain the first trip was Uncompaghre. Here is a photo from first light after sunrise when we had just got on the trail. It’s over 4 miles away and 3000 vertical feet up.

Here is a better picture showing what an amazing peak it really is. We hiked through the meadow, around to the left, up to a ridge and then back to the edge of the cliff bands on the left side of the picture. There we had to scramble about 200 vertical feet up through a little gully and then 300 more vertical feet to the top.

Here is a picture of Levi and me at the top! (or close to is, because he must be standing uphill from me!) It was a great trip and I hope to get an entire photo album on photobucket soon. There were 29 guys in the first trip and all of them made it to the top of Uncompaghre. The second trip had 27 guys and all but 3 summitted. There was a case of altitude sickness that stopped one man about 500 feet short of the summit and so two others took him down a ways and stayed with him.

I have again realized how great a privilege it is to climb some of these mountains. The experience is exhilarating, we had lots of fun, and we focused on the reality that God is enough for us. I got to teach and focused on Jesus being the help for the deepest part of our hearts, as being the one who can help us keep our bearings when life gets difficult, and as the great Friend who helps us keep company with others on our path through life.

grace

Time gets away and getting away

It is amazing how easy time can get away from a person. Good intentions nonwithstanding. My review/summary of Tim Keller's book, The Reason For God, is on hold for a couple of more weeks.

I'm off to Colorado for 12 days of teaching two groups of mountain climbers. I don't teach them mountain climbing--Pastor Paul Parsons does that. I just get to talk about leaning on Jesus. (Who gets the best deal?)

Maybe in a few weeks you'll see a picture of me standing on this mountain:

Men of Colonial Mountain Climbers--Conditioning

Guys, If you were at the first orientation meeting you heard about the need for conditioning. Most of you already know this and most of you are already doing some things to get ready for the climbs. After Pastor Paul mentioned his conditioning goal, I felt weak. And slow. And old. So I rechecked some correspondance and websites and found a fairly reliable VO2 test that anyone can use. It was developed by Dr Ken Cooper (the Aerobics guy from way back). You can find a link to it here. VO2 has something to do with measuring the volume of oxygen your lungs and body can handle. It is a pretty effective measure of cardio conditioning. If you reach a certain point, then it is likely that you'll do okay in the mountains, at altitude (apart from altitude sickness). The test is simple. Run as far as you can in 12 minutes. Measure it. Compare the charts. The link I gave is measured in meters so I had to convert mileage to meters. For old guys like me it is something like 1.25 miles in 12 minutes. I believe you younger men probably need to go farther! The other factor that you should train for is long walks or hikes. I think the trip up Umcompaghre is more than 12 minutes. grace

How God Changes People--The Cay

During the past few weeks my 6th grade language arts class has been reading The Cay. It is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it. The setting is the Caribbean, during World War 2. Phillip is an eleven year old boy, whose mom is frightened after German U-boats attack the oil center of Curacao, off the coast of Venezuela. She wants to take him back to Virginia, for safety. They get on a boat bound for Miami, but it is sunk by a torpedo and Phillip ends up on a raft with Timothy, an old black West Indian man. Phillip’s mom was prejudiced and it comes out in Phillip as he interacts with Timothy. Oh yeah, Phillip was injured as he fell from the ship. He hit his head and on the second day on the raft went blind. Timothy and Phillip are stuck with each other. Phillip is an emerging racist. Timothy keeps focused on the work they have to do—what work? “Just keep alive, young bahss.” Eventually they come to a cay, a small low island, with a few palms and no people who will help them. As Timothy sets up camp, they make plans for rescue. Timothy makes a signal fire that they can light if they hear or see an airplane. After a few days on the island they gather sea-grape vines so that Timothy can make a rope for Phillip to get down to the fire if he hears a plane when Timothy isn’t there Then Timothy tells Phillip that he (Phillip) will have to begin to share in the work. Now Phillip is an eleven year old. He is blind. He doesn’t know if his mom got in a life boat or not. Life is not easy. And he thinks—“I can’t work, I’m blind”. Timothy announces that Phillip will be weaving the sleeping mats from palm branches. Phillip complains. Blind kids can’t work. Timothy assures Phillip that it is not hard, just over and under. In fact one of the best mat makers in the islands is blind. Finally, Timothy places some palm fronds in Phillip’s lap. “Here young bahss, it’s easy. Just over and under…” Phillip tries but it doesn’t work so well. He gives up. Timothy tries to help him by reaching his hands in and directly Phillip. “Just over and under…” At this point, Phillip loses it. Listen as Phillip tells it. I tried again, but it didn’t work. I stood up and threw the palm fibers at him, and screamed, “You stupid ugly black man! I won’t do it! You’re stupid, you can’t even spell…” Timothy’s heavy hand struck my face sharply. Stunned, I touched my face where he’d hit me. Then I turned away from where I thought he was. My cheek stung, but I wouldn’t let him see me with tears in my eyes. I heard him saying very gently, “B’getting’ back to wark, my own self.” I sat down again. He began to sing that ‘fungee and fish’ song in a low voice, and I could picture him sitting on the sand in front of the hut; that tangled gray hair, the ugly black face with the thick lips, those great horny hands, winding the strands of vine. The rope, I thought. It wasn’t for him. It was for me. After a while, I said, “Timothy…” He did not answer, but walked over to me, pressing more palm fronds into my hands. He murmured, “’Tis veree easy, ovah an’ under…” Then he went back to singing about fungee and fish. Something happened to me that day on the cay. I’m not quite sure what it is even now, but I had begun to change. I said to Timothy, “I want to be your friend.” He said softly, “Young bahss, you ‘ave always been my friend.” I said, “Can you call me Phillip instead of young boss? “Philleep,” he said warmly. I asked my sixth graders what happened. They said he got smacked! I asked them what they thought about it. Most thought Timothy was justified. One said, “Why didn’t he do it sooner?” I asked them what changed in Phillip. They said, he started to quit being racist. I asked why did he change. And few could answer. Some thought it was because he got some sense knocked into him. One said that he was probably afraid that he’d get beat if he kept it up. I pointed out the reality of change. He is no longer ‘young bahss’ but now Philleep. In the Bible a name change is significant. It means God is at work. But what happened here? A couple wrote down, ‘it’s something about the rope.’ And then I told them my story. Here’s what I told them. Phillip was taken aback when Timothy slapped him. At first he merely licked his wounds. And maybe nursed his grudge. But Timothy just kept on working. And all of a sudden Phillip realized what Timothy was working on. The rope. And it wasn’t for Timothy it was for Phillip. What Timothy was really doing was loving Phillip. And it was love that touched Phillip’s heart. No wonder he didn’t understand it then and maybe wouldn’t for a long time. Love is powerful. Love changes people. It doesn't call attention to itself so sometimes it is hard to see. Regardless of what my young student said, beatings do not change a person on the inside. It takes love to do that. And we who know the God who delights in our name, who has a name for us written on a white stone in heaven, who changes us from the inside out, wonder at the love that changes us. If you have stories that remind you of the love of God that changes us, please share them. I'd love to hear them.