It turns out that I have had few mountains to climb this year. Coming into the year, I had expected to be pushed more physically and realistically it has been more of a walk in the park. Unfortunately I don’t have the availability, permission or time to go and climb or conquer “stuff.” However, last week, we were getting some “rest” at a place called Snake (or prayer…or miracle) Mountain. For me, this rest included hiking a nearby mountain 4 times in the 4 days we were there. Needless to say I was in need of a little man time or something that was going to use up a bit of testosterone!
The first time up Chris, Hood, Noah and I decided to ascend the mountain to scout out the best way up. We got up the mountain in a hurry but we were reminded of how little exercise we’ve had in the past couple months. The four of us took our time as we meandered along the ridge and just enjoyed the cool breeze and warm sunshine. We strolled along a wild donkey path and were seemingly tracking a few of them as they kept moving further ahead and further up to get out of our way. Finally we decided to descend at a place that was fairly steep but it was something to do 🙂
The second time up we were with a group of men who decided to bring the packs, tents and some meat! We sat around a blazing fire and chatted for hours into the night. Those of you reading this blog that know me will understand how good it was for me to just sit next to that fire and rest. There seems to be little created in this world that calms my spirit and stills my soul more than a good fire. Needless to say and probably little to your surprise, the only thing I ended up using my sleeping bag for was a pillow. Instead I just laid out next to the fire and every time it started to get a little bit chilly I would just stoke it up again with a few more trees. In the end I got an hour or so of sleep but more rest than usual. On a side note, it was fairly chilly up there otherwise. In fact, Miles’ nalgene which was sitting about three from me ended up freezing overnight.
Around 6 am the sky was just starting to turn a bit lighter and Tim (aka little general) was stirring so he came out and joined me next to the fire. Feeling like it was time for some more company, I woke up the other guys for the “sunrise.” haha, good times! Regardless, we started our morning early, watched the sunrise and then spent some quiet time along the ridge before throwing rocks over the rock face and heading out for a morning hike.
However before we set out we took a few pictures of the sunrise and had a few good laughs so I figured I would add a picture of the sunrise from the top of Prayer Mountain as well. Below are the seven of us looking east over the face of the cliff.
Later that day after we came back down there was a group of 4 girls who decided to head up by themselves. I reluctantly decided not to head up there with them and in the end I probably should have. They made it up fine with a few scares but completely alive and safe. However, they weren’t sure where to head back down so as the sun set, they decided to sit down and call for me. About this time, I was finishing recording some music for a cd that Nick is putting together and found out that they still weren’t back. The angst in me continued to grow so I told a couple guys where I was going, my route and when to look for me if I wasn’t back. Then I took off making some great time up the hill by mostly moonlight. The only thing really slowing me down was a pair of dogs, a snake and bull cow who all seemed wary of my passing to say the least. Regardless, my body was getting used to climbing this thing and it felt good to just go straight on up as quickly as possible. At the top I found four huddled girls in need of a guide back down. I was glad to find them and while I knew that they would be fine the entire time, I was just happy to know that it was just a matter of time before we would all be back down the mountain with some left-over hamburgers to eat.
The trip down at night over a slight rock face and down some steep terrain was not the most pleasant idea for a couple of the girls who aren’t exactly fond of heights. It took us awhile to get down the hill but those girls took that mountain like champs and I was proud of how they kept going and conquered some of their fears. Upon arriving at the base of the mountain, we found that there were a couple search parties looking for the girls and not a little excitement/confusion/relief. Either way, I was just glad that the girls were safe and sound.
The final morning’s plans included quiet time, communion, packing and lunch to start at noon. SO, when Tim, Pridge, Hollis, Emily and I took off in the morning we thought we would have plenty of time. Pridge and Tim decided to break off early and the rest of us kept climbing the mountain. The three of us had a splendid morning and a pretty relaxed hike (once we were on the ridge) and made our way back to our place by noon. It was about 5 past noon and as we started walking up the driveway, we saw the bus coming towards us…This may officially be the first time I have heard of an African being not only on time, but ahead of it…It turns out that he was leaving with or without us and that the schedule got changed while we were hiking…Thankfully God was good and got us where we needed at the right time and without a minute to spare.
