#I didn’t used to be THIS adverse I actually did wilderness camp one year when I was 11 and we did cliff jumping and caving

[alliluyevas]

in general I have very little interest in extreme sports. I like hiking and kayaking and cross country skiing at a normal chill pace but anything involving heights, extreme depths/slopes, tight spaces, or going extremely fast is a hard no.

[coza-main]

The Turning Point

Words: 2,578

Warnings: Slight angst, other than that none

Summary: The princess and Link get lost in a white-out blizzard, only to find shelter in a cave. Can Link use this time to prove that he is not her enemy, or will he only push her further away?

---

Link should’ve spoken up when he had the chance. He had known their party wouldn’t make it back to Rito Village before the storm hit, even with the shortcut. They had been out in the wilderness conducting research for days and everyone was eager to get back to the village, so they chose to ignore the warning signs. He wanted to speak up, tell the others that they should make camp and wait until the snow stopped falling, but he hadn’t been able to find his voice at the time. And now they were all paying for his weakness.

He was alone with the princess, silently working on starting a fire while she sat close by. Link didn’t need to look at her to know how bleak their situation was. She was practically folded in on herself, shivering from the cold. They had been lost in the white-out blizzard for at least an hour before finding the cave they were in now. His hands couldn’t seem to strike the flint correctly to start the spark. If he couldn't start a fire soon, they would definitely be dead by morning. Hypothermia would set in and they would both freeze to death before anyone could come find th-

“Could I try?”. The princess’s hoarse voice startled Link out of his thoughts. She hadn’t spoken to him since they had gotten inside the cave, though that wasn’t unusual. She only spoke directly to him when she absolutely had to, and never in a very friendly manner. He silently handed over the flint, which she took with a bleak smile. After 3 strikes, there were soft embers glowing in at the bottom of their small wood pile.

Link quickly got close to fan the embers, and soon the flames sprung up, casting shadows along the icy cave walls. Both of them moved closer to the fire, relishing in the heat they hadn’t had for so long. The silence between them was deafening, only broken up by the soft crackles of the wood being burned away.

---

By the time he was warm enough to move, the princess had fallen asleep. Link pulled out a small pot and began to walk towards the entrance of the cave. The princess may have dozed off, but they were going to need food soon. He collected snow and set the pot over the fire, continuing to add more snow as it continued to melt over the flames until the pot was full.

Once he finished, Link grabbed his sword and ventured outside once again. The visibility was still nonexistent, but he needed to find more wood or they wouldn't outlive the blizzard. He ran his gloved hand along the outside wall of the cave and stuck his sword arm out in the other direction. Walking blindly, he relied solely on his other senses, counting each step he took away from the cave entrance. If he was lucky, there would be a tree close to the cave and he wouldn’t have to venture far.

Link only had to walk a few meters before he felt something hit his sword. Hylia seemed to be smiling upon him, even after all she had put him through today. It was almost as if the goddess herself was calling his name in the wind gusts, giving him the strength he thought had been depleted. He wasn’t entirely sure how well a sword would hold up in place of an ax, but he managed to get a decent amount of firewood before heading back into the safety of the cave.

---

As Link regained his sight back in the cave, he noticed two things: the princess was awake, and she seemed to be crying. He instinctively dropped the wood he collected to rush to her side, startling her in the process. As she caught sight of him, grief quickly changed into relief, and then to anger, which managed to stop him dead in his tracks. Her emotions were always so easy to read, it was one of his favorite things about her. Hylia, he wished that he could wear his emotions as clearly as she wore hers.

“Where have you been?!?” She shouted, wiping angrily at her tear-filled eyes. Her voice rang through the icy cave. “I woke up and you were gone! What kind of knight leaves the person they’re supposed to be guarding without any sort of notice? What was so important that you couldn’t wait until I woke up?”

Dumbfounded by her outburst, Link simply looked down at the firewood he had collected. He wanted to apologize for scaring her, for leaving her alone, but apparently she wasn’t done.

“Firewood? You left me alone for firewood?” She had risen from her spot and was now marching towards him. “What if there had been a bear or something in here? I was vulnerable sleeping! You could have at least woken me up and told me where you were going!” Now that she was closer, Link saw that the princesses’ face wasn’t contorted in anger. She was scared. Her voice was quieter the next time she spoke. “I was calling for you. I thought you left me.”

Link’s heart ached. He knew the trials and adversity the princess had overcome. He wanted to reach out, to comfort her. But he didn’t know how to. The words wouldn’t come to him. The princess stared at him for a few seconds, and then bent down to gather up the rest of the firewood.

---

They didn’t have much. The carrots, Hyrule herbs, a few chillshrooms, and some bits of dried meat from Link’s pack were all thrown into the pot to boil into a soup. Link silently poured out the soup into two bowls, and handed one to Zelda. It wasn’t much, but it was edible, and left them both feeling rather warm inside. The cold air seemed to be a little less frigid once they were finished.

“I would never leave you.” Link said softly as he packed up the equipment. He knew he wasn’t the best with words, but he was feeling extra courageous. They had survived the day. She needed to know he was someone she could count on. But still, his cheeks were burning, and the princesses’ silence wasn’t helping. Once everything was packed up, he finally had summoned the courage to look at her again.

Wide, green eyes were focused on him, her mouth slightly agape. Was she in shock? Had he really said something so out of place that it warranted that reaction? What more did she want, an apology? It was better to be safe than sorry. “Your Highness, I’m-”

“That’s the first time you’ve spoken to me.” She blurted out over him. Link could feel his cheeks warming again, and was thankful for the cold to blame. “That’s the first time ever.”

Link shook his head. There was no way that she was right in that statement. He didn’t speak often, but he still had a voice that he used when it was warranted. “I’ve definitely spoken around you before, princess.”

Zelda laughed dryly. “You’ve spoken around me before-rarely, I might add-but you’ve never spoken to me. Not directly, at least.”

Link found himself dumbfounded once again. He had always assumed the princess didn’t want to talk to him, so he never made an effort. She was intimidating, and was one of the few people he didn’t want to be on the bad side of. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Was he supposed to apologize? Ask for forgiveness? Was it even a big deal that he had never spoken to her before? Knights don't speak to princesses unless they were explicitly told to. The fact that he was the chosen hero and her personal guard didn’t change his status as a knight, did it?

“Do you have a torch? I want to look around.” She was scanning the walls covered in ice. The cavern looked like it had been untouched for centuries, there was no trace of animals or Hylians inside. He could tell she was anticipating him to shoot her down. “We won’t go far, I just want to see a little further back.”

Link located the torch he had in his pack and lit it from the flames, before doing it again with another torch and handing it off. They walked in silence, with Link listening for any sign of life, the princess looking for anything interesting.

---

Link was the first to break the silence, more out of curiosity than awkwardness. “Your Highness, what exactly are you looking for?”

“It’s a long shot, but I read some research a few months ago about these rumored skeletons. They’re supposed to be as big as houses, Link! The research itself was from years ago, but I was hoping to find the skeletons. One is supposed to be in the Hebra mountains, far from civilization. They called it a leviathan in their research, but I wonder what the actual name was?” The princess continued to ramble on about the possibilities and ramifications of a creature of that caliber existing. Link listened to her endearingly, smiling to himself. She always got off on some kind of tangent whenever scientific theories were involved. Her voice bounced off the walls, creating its own symphony with her as the star. Link was so distracted by the music it took him a few seconds to realize the princess had stopped talking.

His eyes found her quickly. “You probably think I’m a disgrace. I have yet to awaken my sealing power and I’m in the Hebra Mountains looking for a skeleton for fun. I-”

“I don’t think you’re a disgrace,” Link interrupted. The princess whipped around and stared at him as he quickly continued. “You’ve tried your hardest up until this point, and there’s not much more we can do until you turn 17 and we can go to the Spring of Wisdom. It’s not that the sealing power isn’t manifesting because you aren’t trying hard enough. Also, you’re allowed to enjoy things in life, princess, even if it is searching for a skeleton that might not exist.”

The princess looked like she wanted to say something, but Link rushed on. “Besides, I know you’ve been praying to Hylia every morning and night that we’ve been on this expedition. Even when you’re supposed to be taking a break, you don’t. I admire your determination and willpower more than you know.”

Now that he was done talking, Link felt as if he had overstepped his boundaries. He couldn’t stop himself from blurting all of that out. All of his feelings and emotions were bubbling to the surface now that they were alone and being vulnerable with each other. He needed her to know that her effort wasn’t going unnoticed or unappreciated. He needed her to know that she was important to somebody.

The princess was unusually quiet for a while after that. Link wanted to say more, but he also wanted to give her space. He had overstepped once, it wasn’t wise to do it a second time in such a short time span. He followed behind her silently, searching the cavern for anything interesting that might catch the attention of the princess while listening for any movement beyond the two of them.

“Link-” the princess gasped, and Link drew his sword as he turned back towards her. She was frozen, holding her torch up as far as she could. He could see a faint outline of bone illuminated by the torch light. “It’s here. It’s actually here!”

Seeing that she was in no danger, Link sheathed his sword and walked towards the skeleton himself. Without a word, he stood near her to allow her visibility range to widen as much as possible. With both of their torches, they could just see the top of the skeleton. She hadn’t been lying, the leviathan was easily twice as big as his family home in Hateno.

“I can’t believe we found it. We found it, Link!” The princesses’ eyes shone and her smile widened. It has been a long time since that smile, her genuine smile, came to light. Link had forgotten how contagious it was, and found a smile dancing across his lips as he watched her.

It was like watching a child on the playground. She ran from bone to bone, using her arms to measure the width of each one. For the ones she couldn’t wrap her arms around completely, she had Link assist her. She measured each one, accompanied with pictures of every angle with the Sheikah Slate. She finally got to the back of the beast, and stared up at it. It was clear she wanted to try to climb to the top, but had no way of knowing where to start.

“Do you want to try to climb it, princess?” Link asked, Believing he already knew the answer. He started scaling the bones before the princess even answered his question.

“Link!” She cried desperately. “Be careful! They might break.”

He hadn’t thought of that. He quickly climbed back down. “Sorry, Your Highness,” he mumbled, fully embarrassed. “I didn’t think about that.”

The laugh that escaped her lips was light and teasing. “You never think,” she said in between breaths. She was wiping at her eyes again, tears of joy instead of sorrow. “That’s why we’re down here exploring this creepy cave and not sitting by the fire. That’s why we found the leviathan.”

The princess waited a while before speaking again.

“We probably should go back now,” she admitted.

“Probably.”

---

Back at the fire, their adrenaline wearing off, the princess and her knight seemed to realize how tired they both had become.

“You need sleep, princess.” It wasn’t a request. Link wanted her to rest after the long day they had.

“You need sleep too, sir knight.” Her tone mocked him, and he wondered if he had done something to offend her. “You can call me Zelda, you know.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Zelda.” Her name felt good on his lips. It sounded sweet to her ears.

“We should both sleep,” Zelda said. “Nothing is going to bother us in this cave. I’m sure Hylia will protect her chosen ones if there is.” She sounded sarcastic and bitter, but Link wasn’t sure if he was misinterpreting her tone.

They both laid down next to the fire, their heads near one another. Link stared at the flames, entrancing him dangerously close to sleep.

“You know, if you can find a mythical leviathan that isn’t supposed to exist, I think you’ll be able to conquer your sealing power as well.”

“That’s easy for you to say.” She didn’t need to say anything further, they both knew what she was thinking.

“You deserve to have someone on your side, Zelda.” And he was on her side, wholeheartedly. With that, they both fell asleep quickly, unsure of what the next day would bring.

By the next day, the winds had shifted. The sun was out, and they could continue their journey to Rito Village. As they walked out of the mouth of the cave, Zelda turned back to it. “Goodbye, cave.” Link noticed that she almost sounded disappointed to leave it behind. With a sigh, she turned back to him and they set out to Rito Village once again.

--

One hundred years later, the cave felt so much colder without her next to him.

[thotsonthebible]

The God of 'More Than Enough'?

Numbers 11.34

So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.

This week, I had occasion to reread a few chapters of the book of Numbers.  The occasion was a sermon by a 'prosperity gospel' preacher that I heard on Sunday.  The preacher was upbeat, his message was positive, but there were some glaring errors in his presentation, as well as some serious omissions.

The most obvious was when he told his congregation, 'One of God's names is el Shaddai.  It means "more than enough"!'  El Shaddai actually means 'God Almighty'.

Then he told his congregation that God provided quail for the Israelites for 40 years.  God provided manna for 40 years, but I thought that the quail was a one-time thing.  However, I hadn't read that portion for some time and was a bit foggy on it; thus, my excursion into Numbers.

When I read the account, I rediscovered that chapter 11 had a lot more to tell us.

The Israelites were dissatisfied and began complaining.

Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the           LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. —Numbers 11.1 (NASB)

Whoa!  They'd been delivered from slavery and God had performed mighty miracles on their behalf.  His presence was with them in the fire and the cloud, and he was protecting them and supplying all their needs, yet they were complaining!

The Lord is slow to anger (Exodus 34.6; Numbers 14.18; Psalm 103.8), but He'd had enough of their constant complaints and His anger was kindled—literally!  Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites, 'and the fire died out' (Numbers 11.2).

But had they learned their lesson?  No! Next, they griped because they had only heavenly food to eat, and they wanted meat!

The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, 'Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone.  There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.'  —Numbers 11.4-6 (NASB)

Can you believe it?!  They were looking backward to their slavery in Egypt with longing!  And notice the word 'greedy' here.

When Moses took their complaint before the LORD, what did He instruct Moses to tell them?

'Say to the people, "Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, 'Oh that someone would give us meat to eat!  For we were well-off in Egypt.'  Therefore, the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD Who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'  —Numbers 11.18-20 (NASB)

Contrary to the words of the sermon I heard, God did not provide quail every day for 40 years; He provided quail for a month, until they were sick of it—and then He condemned their greed!

While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague.  So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.  —Numbers 11.33-34 (NASB)

Hmmm. . . I can see why someone who preaches a prosperity gospel would avoid that one!

In Psalm 78, David recounts their complaints, disobedience, and rebellion against the God Who had delivered them from slavery and Who cared for them in the wilderness. So well did He care for the Israelites that in all those 40 years, their clothes and sandals didn't even wear out (Deuteronomy 29.5)!

But God condemns greed.

But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.  —Ephesians 5.3 (NASB)

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  —Colossians 3.5 (NASB)

Then He said to them, 'Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.' —Luke 12.15 (NASB) (italics mine)

But what about that Scripture in which God promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out all that money?  Let's see what it really says, shall we?

'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,' says the LORD of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.  Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,' says the LORD of hosts. 'All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,' says the LORD of hosts.  —Malachi 3.10-12 (NASB)

What? Where's the promise of wealth and riches the prosperity preacher told me I'd receive?  Read it carefully.  God said that He will pour out a blessing, not big bucks!  He promised to bless you, not make you a millionaire!

God will supply our needs, but not our greed!

[ayeletinthemountains]

2019 in Mountains

I’m hopping on the bandwagon and reflecting on a year in review. I don’t make time to write trip reports much these days (I fell off the bandwagon on our van trip, when we were constantly doing cool trips and I just couldn’t keep up [poor me]), so seeing my friend Nikhil write a post summing up his outdoor exploits for the year seemed like a great idea.

Skiing

Since learning to ski in the 2016-17 season, each year has gotten more fun. Typically in winter I focus on the Ogul peak list (a list of peaks in Tahoe, so pretty accessible since most of the roads are plowed; I’m at 35/63 currently), but I’ve learned that seeking summits often doesn’t make for the best skiing. One thing I love about lists though is that it takes me to new places I’d never go otherwise. Some highlights:

Mount Elwell: I wrote a full trip report on this here. This was one of my favorite new areas I got to see. It’s about an hour north of Tahoe, so sees far less visitors, which is always a treat. We saw no one else our whole day in the backcountry, and the views from the summit were spectacular. Plus, we learned about the Plumas Ski Club’s longboard races and checked em out! So much fun. Track

Mount Mildred: Also wrote a trip report on this one here. This peak is behind Alpine Meadows ski resort (where I had a pass this year). It was a pretty long day in terms of mileage for me on skis, so I love seeing the progress I’m making in that regard. Track.

Pyramid/Jacks Desolation Traverse: In late April, given that the big snow year still left good coverage, I did a traverse from Pyramid Peak to Jacks Peak in Desolation Wilderness with friends AJ, Jamie, and Chris. AJ wrote about it here. This was also a long and challenging day for me, being the weakest downhill skier in the group. I didn’t ski the tippy-top of Pyramid (too spooky), but I did manage to ski a bit further down. This day really showed me how great spring skiing can be (and it lends better to summits). Track.

Mount St Helens: Since my older sister Dafna had skied Mount St Helens in the past, I’d had it on my radar and been excited to ski it once I was ready, and this was the year. The skiing is really moderate, the crater is beyond cool, and we made it a family affair! My sisters Ephrat (at 3 months pregnant!) and Dafna joined, along with their partners, Luca and Gil (a first real summit for him! Hiking up on snowshoes, snowboarding down). Mount St Helens is an awesome summit for the hiker/mountaineer learning to ski. I’d happily repeat it someday. Track.

Resort skiing: In 2019 I had the Ikon Pass, which meant mainly skiing Squaw/Alpine. It was my first time skiing at either, and it was a lot of fun, but the traffic was a total nightmare. I had many days where I struggled, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic not moving at all, feeling so trapped and frustrated that we live so far from the mountains. This year I’m back on Epic, and I’m hoping it will be less miserable. Leo and I also took advantage of some of the other resorts on the pass, making trips to Revelstoke, Lake Louise, Banff Sunshine (all in Canada), Alta, and Snowbird.

Rogers Pass: My first (and only) day backcountry skiing in Canada, at such an amazing location. I survived the cold! Track.

I was sick for a good month in winter, which really put my year off to a rocky start and felt like it brought down my fitness a lot. I thought I was getting better and pushed myself really hard for a few days in the backcountry (climbing Anderson Peak with my friend Brice, track), but then I found myself sick again for another two weeks (making me nervous I might not be healthy enough for our Canada trip). I relearned the importance of rest and taking care of yourself.

Ice Climbing

New skill for 2019! Well, technically it started in December 2018 with a trip to the Bozeman Ice Fest, which was an amazing way to learn the basics of the sport. Leo and I both liked it so much that we did three more days of it in Canmore, even hiring a guide to take us up Louise Falls (a 3 pitch climb). Originally I thought I should just know the utmost basics of the sport, but now I find I actually enjoy it and would love to do more of it. I think I could potentially even… lead someday? Which is something I feel pretty defeated about doing in rock climbing. It’s interesting to think about why this doesn’t scare me when rock climbing does. I think it is because in rock climbing I get nervous moving for holds I can barely reach, as opposed to in ice climbing, you can make a hold almost anywhere you like. Leading is still a long ways off for me, of course, but it’s cool to think this might be possible in the future.

Mountaineering/Alpine Climbing

Mount Rainier: After learning the aforementioned basics of ice climbing, we put them to the test on Rainier. Leo and I had attempted Rainier in 2017 with our friend Ryan, but turned back at 13k ft due to bad conditions. This time, Leo, Nikhil, and I climbed the Kautz Glacier route in mid-June. We did a one night trip, camping at 12k feet, right below the Kautz ice section, carrying our gear over the following day and descending the DC. A lot of thoughts on this trip: The most challenging thing for me probably were the stats combined with carrying a very heavy pack. Heavy packs are definitely my biggest weakness and something I’d like to train this year. Our group members and I still all have a lot to learn in terms of glacier navigation and travel. Rainier is a big mountain, and definitely a step above most California summits. I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable climbing it in adverse conditions (California fair-weather climber here!), and it shows the edges of where I can develop more skills to increase my safety margin. The mountain also really showed me why it is such a great training ground for future expeditions. It was a tough trip, but I’d like to back again for more routes. (Plus, we didn’t make it to the high point of the crater! Gotta go back). I felt pretty wrecked for over a week after this trip, really surprised at the recovery time I needed. Track 1, 2.

Arete des Cosmiques: Leo and I made our first trip to Chamonix this year, and it truly is a dream playground. We were lucky to overlap with our friend Chelsea and Michael by coincidence, so we all warmed up by climbing the world-famous Arete des Cosmiques together. We had great weather and it was just all around fun. Track.

Pyramide du Tacul: Also in Chamonix. This was just a good, fun climb in a spectacular setting. Alpine starts in Chamonix are beyond gorgeous. Track 1, 2.

Aiguille de la Republique: This is called the pointiest, most exposed summit in Chamonix! With a description like that, how could we not check it out? To tackle this, Leo and I spent two nights in the Refuge des Envers, which is a decent hike. We got to walk on our first dry glacier, which was beyond cool. The peak itself was pretty challenging, and we technically bailed about 50 feet below the summit, but I was proud of the effort. There was a little bit of everything: glacier approach, spicy scrambling, glorious hand jams, great exposure. It was a long and challenging day, but a good way to push myself. Track 1, 2.

Me touching the point of the Aiguille de la Republique in the first picture, the day before we hiked in.

Mont Blanc: Our last outing in Chamonix was Mont Blanc. After trying and failing many times to get spaces at the Gouter Hut, we had given up on climbing it. A record heat wave for our whole visit had made climbing Mont Blanc via the other main route, Trois Monts (three mountain route), too dangerous, due to a lot of steep snow and passing below seracs. However, at the end of our trip the heat wave passed and we had a great day for a summit. We climbed the Trois Monts route from the Cosmiques Hut (an amazing place to stay! At 11k ft on a glacier with warm food and excellent wifi). It was quite crowded (in my opinion), but the sunrise and views were spectacular. And a new elevation PR for both Leo and me! It was a really special way to close out the trip. Track.

Sierra

So many great adventures in the “backyard” this summer, despite my fitness limiting me. After losing a bunch of fitness at the start of the year, I had another setback by developing some pain in my left knee (patellofemoral pain syndrome). This meant I took nearly 6 months off from running, one of my main ways to keep in shape. I also limited my mountain excursions, usually only doing one day of long hiking/scrambling per weekend, to not push my knee too much. Some Sierra highlights:

Morgan N & Stanford linkup: This really is a lovely day in the Sierra. The mileage is a bit long, but it really doesn’t feel very sloggy at all. The terrain is quite solid 90% of the time, and you get to descend the “greatest sand slope in the Sierra”, coming down from Stanford. Did this peak with new friends Sarah, Peter (who are both also SPS-ers :D), Rob, and Alexandra, and it was a blast. Track.

Banner Peak: A fun one! Took advantage again of the good snow year to climb the snow route up the Ritter-Banner saddle. Got to do this with Leo, which was his first time in Ansel Adams Wilderness. Excited to finish off the pair, since I’d climbed Ritter a number of years ago. Now it won’t feel as incomplete when I look at the Mammoth skyline. Hoping to go back for Clyde Minaret this year with Leo via the climbing route. Track.

Williamson & Tyndall: An overnight with Emily and a new friend, Alex. We hiked in day 1, climbed both peaks day 2, and hiked out day 3 before having some BBQ at the US’s best restaurant in Big Pine. I found both peaks to be really fun (and incredibly popular! Was shocked by the number of people we saw). Aside from sleeping a bit cold at night in my bivy sack, this was mostly a Type 1 fun trip with fun humans, bring my CA 14er count to 13. Shepherds Pass was not as bad as I expected, I’m very happy to say (since, well, I’m going to have to hike it many more times). Track 1, 2, 3.

Labor Day peak extravaganza: Inspired by this Bob Burd trip report, Leo and I planned an excellent “compromise” trip, which was maybe my favorite trip of the summer. We planned to tackle some peaks in the high country of Sequoia/Kings Canyon (SEKI), but chose to enter from the East side, unlike Bob, due to fear of our inability to get permits for Labor Day Weekend (our East side TH had 20 or 30 walk up permits available — the West side had 6 [shared with the very popular Rae Lakes trailhead]). Leo and I hiked in Friday evening, hiking 9 miles to camp near Charlotte Lake. The next morning, we rose early to head over to Charlotte Dome. We climbed the 50 Classic Route on the dome, seeing only one other party (in perfect weather on a 3 day weekend??), climbing it quickly enough to unlock the rest of the trip. We had set a time for ourselves, that if we didn’t summit by a certain time, the rest of the trip wasn’t in the cards. Leo did a great job leading on probably too skinny of a rope and with too little gear… but you make gear tradeoffs when you’re carrying it 40+ miles in a weekend. From Charlotte Dome we hiked up a pretty awful slope to the Gardiner summit ridge. We dropped our packs and did the fun 4th class ridge to the true summit. We then reversed our steps back to our packs, and hurried down the other side of the peak, making camp in the dark. The next day was another hard one. We left camp as is, and hiked over to Clarence King, a peak with one of the more challenging summit blocks in the Sierra. We climbed another miserable loose slope, and found ourselves at the summit block. Leo, again, led it in good style. My height made it really hard for me to pull the very exposed move on to the summit block, and I nearly gave up. But, Leo found a way to safely belay me with the rope running over the summit block itself as an “anchor”, and I managed to summit! From there we hiked back over near camp, and I managed to pull together the energy to summit our fourth and final summit of the trip, Mount Cotter. This was a really fun class 2 scramble, that I was really thankful I found the energy for, since it’s ~30 mi round trip from the trailhead. We made it back to camp right before dark, and slept like rocks. The next day was a looong hike out ending in a downpour/thunder storm, before driving the long way back home. This trip felt like such an amazing way to really get out there in the Sierra and explore some epic spots, covering a lot of ground and carrying as little gear as possible. I’d love to do more overnights entering Friday evening after work this year. Track 1, 2, 3, 4.

Middle Palisade: A really fun day with Emily. This type of day is pretty much my favorite way to spend a day in the mountains – moving quickly over interesting terrain in a gorgeous setting. I’d been nervous that this would just be a total slog, but it was far from it. Very little of the terrain sucked, the scrambling was fun, and of course the views were great. I’m really excited to come back for the other peaks in the area now. Brought my CA 14er count to 14/15! Track.

Mount Hooper: Holy smokes the western Sierra is also awesome. I had only ever been to this area when I hiked through it on the JMT. I’d never driven the crazy Kaiser Pass road out into the west side. Leo and I had an excellent “compromise” weekend hiking Mount Hooper, visiting Mono Hot Springs, and doing some climbing on Tollhouse Rock. Again, new places that my list took me that ended up being really special. Really excited to go back. Track.

East Buttress of Middle Cathedral: My fifty classic for the year! But really, at least once a year I need to go to Yosemite Valley and climb something fun with Leo. It’s a good way to make me appreciate rock climbing and spend time doing something Leo loves. Plus, well, Yosemite has some pretty good climbs I guess. 😜 This was a really fun one with excellent climbing on it, and with only 3 parties on it on a gorgeous weekend day! One of them including Hans Florine, who was very nice. 😄 Rock climbing isn’t so bad sometimes.

Desert

Not too much time in the desert this year, unfortunately, aside from a JTree trip over Memorial Day Weekend, and a week in Sedona over Thanksgiving (though it rained/snowed half the time). Sedona is another awesome playground that I’m surprised doesn’t see more climbers. The towers are endless and stunning. I love the crazy features that form there. Given the poor weather, we didn’t get to do too much, but our climbs of The Fin as a group of 5 (track), and of Queen Victoria with Daiyi (track) both stand out as really fun outings.

Personal mountain philosophy

To the outside, it probably seems like I go on endless trips effortlessly, but that’s definitely not the case. I have an amazing partner, but our outdoor interests don’t fully line up, and that caused me a lot of frustrations in 2018. I hadn’t done a great job of fostering outdoor friendships, so it put a lot of pressure on my relationship with Leo, feeling like he was my only partner and we had to spend every weekend together. In winter, it’s great, since we both love to ski (though Leo is a much stronger skier than me, so I sometimes hold him back), but in summer it was a problem. Leo’s favorite activity is climbing, and climbing hard. When we climb together, it really limits the grades and objectives he can go after. On top of that, I don’t have nearly as much of an interest in hard climbs, and am all about long scrambles. We also both have a lot of our own mountain goals, and we weren’t able to accomplish them by spending most weekends together.

This summer, I made a concerted effort instead to spend less time with Leo and develop friendships with others. It was scary to put myself out there, reaching out to folks on social media or asking other friends to introduce me, but it definitely paid off in the end. I added some people I really clicked with to my network, and got to have some really great days with them in the mountains. I still enjoy solo days in the mountains as well, but I see a lot of value in seeking out others to share those experiences with whenever possible. I think it’s still good for me to do at least one solo trip a summer, but, generally, spending all those hours driving and hiking alone is something I want to avoid when possible. On top of having more friends I’ve connected with, I also enjoy the weekends I do spend with Leo more now, not feeling the stress that “oh no, this weekend I’m not accomplishing my goal again”. It also made me appreciate when we reconnect at the end of the weekend, swapping stories of how our trips went and cheering each other on. I feel more balanced and fulfilled, and I want to keep chasing that.

Also one weekend we took an offer from a photographer to do a free “elopement” photo shoot, to help build her portfolio. Cue me having to explain to everyone that we are not engaged or married, we just did a fun, different thing in the mountains for once.

Things I am excited about in 2020:

Making more mountain friends, spending more time with my current ones.

I just left my job, and won’t be starting my new one till the end of March! I’m spending a few weeks in Ecuador starting in late January, aiming to climb some of the high volcanoes there. I see this as great training for future expeditions like Denali. Hoping for good weather!

For the aforementioned trip, I’ve been training quite hard for the first time in my life. I am nervous, since my knee really prevented me from keeping up my fitness in 2019, and I’m not fully back from that yet. I am doing one of the pre-made training plans from Uphill Athlete, and it’s been the first time I’ve had a focused training plan. I am impressed with just how much cardio I can squeeze into one week :-P I’m excited to keep it up this year, and hopefully have a very strong summer season.

Getting better at skiing. And a hut trip to ski in the Selkirk mountains in Canada in March at the Bill Putnam hut, before starting my new job.

Spending some days at the Sierra Challenge. I’ve never participated before, but it’s about time I make the time to check it out!

Clyde Minaret via the 5.8 50 Classic.

Lone Pine Peak via the North Ridge.

Split Mountain! Ideally via the St Jean Couloir, but if not, then via the summer route. This would be my last California 14er :)

Boundary Peak (the highest peak in Nevada, on the border between California and Nevada (you see what they did there?). I drove past it last week and am now enamored with it.

Reaching 100 peaks on the SPS list (currently at 85/100).

A potential Orizaba trip over the winter holidays!

….maybe a big wall with Leo.

Something else you want to climb together??

[johnhardinsawyer]

“Moment by Moment”

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

2 / 12 / 17 – Scout Sunday

 Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Matthew 5:21-37

 “Moment by Moment”

(Aims and Ideals in the Kingdom of Heaven)

You have heard it said that a Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent, but I say to you, “Really?  All the time?”  Let’s be honest, one fourth of the summers of my life were spent at Scout camp, so I know that even Scouts who are super dedicated, aren’t always going to be kind and obedient, clean and reverent, and all the rest.  I know I wasn’t.  Things like the Scout Oath and Law, though, are “Aims and Ideals” – values for which all Scouts are called to strive, even if they might sometimes fall short.  Not all Scouts will be able to live up to these Aims and Ideals all the time, but it helps to be reminded of them, again and again and again.  This is why the Aims and Ideals are repeated at troop meetings and even at church this morning before the worship service.

When my brother was working at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, he was supervising over 1,000 staff members each summer.  Philmont is one of the crown jewels of the Scouting program.  They try to only hire the best people to work at Philmont and there are high expectations of all staff members.  But, over the course of a long hot summer, not all 1,000 people are going to live up to those high expectations.  So, whenever my brother had trouble with some of his staff members – which he did from time to time – he would always start his conversations with them by talking about “Aims and Ideals” – how if you were going to be a Scout, and work at Philmont, you needed to try to live up to those Aims and Ideals, or you can “seek excellence elsewhere. 

In today’s reading from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a set of aims and ideals.  Now, ever since the days of Moses, the people of Israel had been struggling to keep all of the laws that God had given to the people.  These laws went far beyond the short list of the 10 Commandments – “thou shalt not kill, or steal,” and all the rest.[1]  These laws got pretty specific about certain foods that people could not eat, certain things people could not touch, and certain expectations that God had about all of this.  There were people whose job it was to study the law and make sure that everyone around them was following the law.  It was hard work following all of the 613 commandments in the Hebrew scriptures – a pretty daunting and exhausting task.

By the time Jesus came along, there was a whole system for how to follow the law.  The scribes and the Pharisees had this system down to a “T.”  They were really good at following the law and looked down on those who didn’t. You would think that Jesus came to fix the system – to make it better – but right before today’s passage, Jesus actually said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. . .  Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 5:17, 20)

“Wait a second, Jesus.  You want me to be better at following the law than the professional law-followers?  You want me to be more ethical, just, faithful and right-minded – the very picture of what it means to have a right relationship with God – than the people who have basically determined what a right relationship with God is supposed to look like?”

By this point in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had described the characteristics of those who live in the Kingdom – or Empire – of God. Those who are poor in spirit, and meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and are merciful, and pure in heart, those who are salt and light[2] are people who will come to know what it means to live in the Empire of God.  It could even be said that if you are living the way Jesus calls us to live then you are already living in God’s empire.

But in today’s passage – Jesus takes the ancient law of Moses and amplifies it – cranks it up all the way “to eleven.”[3]  “You have heard it said,” Jesus says multiple times – describing some of the laws of Moses – laws such as, “You shall not murder, or commit adultery, or get a divorce, or swear falsely. . .”  (5:21, 27, 31, 33)  “You have heard it said, do not do these things,” Jesus says, “But I say to you. . . Do not even get angry (5:22). . . Do not be lustful at all (5:28). . . Do not hurt other people just because it is convenient (5:31-32). . .  Do not make all kinds of false promises. . .  Just tell the truth.”  (5:33-37)

Have you ever been angry?  Have you ever had lust – even in your heart?  Have you ever hurt another person?  Have you ever told a lie?  Jesus sets some impossibly high standards.

There are some Christians who believe in taking the Bible literally.  But if we took Jesus’ words in today’s passage literally, then one of my heroes from the 1980’s – Mr. T,  a man who made a career out of looking tough and calling people “fools” – would be going to straight to hell.  (5:24) If we took these words of Jesus literally and we sinned because of something our eye saw or our hand touched, we would have to pluck out that eye or cut off that hand.  (5:30)  If we took Jesus’ words literally, then there would be a lot of eye-less and hand-less people walking around. 

When Jesus uses this extreme language, he is not speaking literally.  He is exaggerating – using hyperbole – to make his point.  When John Calvin wrote about this passage, he said,

Christ employs an exaggerated form of speech to show, that whatever hinders us from yielding. . . obedience to God. . . ought to be cut off. . .  If the mind were pure, the eyes and hands would be obedient to it, for it is certain that they have not movement of their own.[4]

In other words, our hands and our eyes do not sin on their own, but our minds and hearts sure do cause us to sin.  We can’t cut off our mind and heart, can we?  So, what do we do?

In today’s reading from Deuteronomy, the children of Israel found themselves at a “what do we do” moment.  They and their parents and grandparents had been wandering around the wilderness for forty long years and they found themselves at the moment when the Promised Land was in sight.  They knew they were getting close – that their time of wandering was almost done – but before they could go into the Promised Land, Moses gathered the people together before God – all of the leaders of the tribes, all of the officials, all of the men, women, and children, and foreigners who were living in the camp, including those who cut the wood and carried the water.  And Moses said:  You are gathered here together to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God. . . so that you may be established as God’s people, so that God will be your God.”[5]

God had chosen to be their God, but would they choose to be God’s people?  Moses laid it out for them – they could choose to not be God’s people, but there would be some pretty drastic consequences for this.  They could go their own stubborn way and worship other [“small g”] gods – they could “seek excellence elsewhere.”  But the Lord God [“Capital G”], who is the author of all that is truly excellent would not be pleased if they made the wrong choice.[6]  So Moses put a choice before the people:

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.  If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. . .  Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors. . .”  (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

So, what do you think the people chose?  Of course, they chose life and blessing and they went into the Promised Land.  But you can’t just make one big choice and then be done.

There is an old Baptist hymn that some of you might have heard.  It’s kind of “old school” and not gender neutral at all.

Once to every man and nation

Comes the moment to decide,

In the strife of truth with falsehood,

For the good or evil side.

Some great cause, some great decision,

Offering each the bloom or blight,

And the choice goes by forever

‘Twixt that darkness and that light.[7]

I had a professor in college who said that he did not like this hymn, because it implies that we only have one time to make a choice between good and evil.  “We have to make that choice every moment of our lives,” he said.  “Not just once.”[8]

Yesterday, a wonderful couple – Michael and Courtney – stood right there and made a big choice.  When I asked them – in front of God and a bunch of witnesses – if they wanted to marry one another, they said “Yes!” A marriage might start with this big public moment of  “Yes!  I will marry you.”  But a real and true marriage is comprised of ten million smaller moments of “Yes, I am married to you, even when you drive me crazy.  Yes, I am married to you, even when it’s hard.  Yes, I am – and will be – married to you through thick and thin.”  This is what it means to strive for the aims and ideals.  Because when you love someone you give your heart to them.  And when you give your heart to them, it’s not just once – it is again and again and again. . .  

Jesus does not want us to cut our heart and mind off.  Instead, Jesus wants us to give our hearts and minds to the Kingdom of Heaven again and again and again.  Christ is our ultimate Aim and Ideal – to be like him, to be one with him with every breath, in every moment.  There will be breath that we waste in life and moments when we fail and fall, but there is always another breath, another moment – the next one.  Thanks be to God that with Jesus Christ, in the Kingdom of Heaven, there is always grace and the chance to start over – day by day, moment by moment.

You have heard it said that God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  (Psalm 103:8)  And I say to you, I believe this is true.God has given God’s own self – Jesus Christ – to us.  For us. . . our Aim and our Ideal. 

It is good to be reminded of this again and again and again. May we give our hearts to Jesus again and again and again.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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[1] See Exodus 20:1-17.

[2] See Matthew 5:1-12, 13-15.

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOO5S4vxi0o.

[4] John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries – Vol. XVI (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2009), 290.

[5] Deuteronomy 29:10-13, paraphrased, JHS.

[6] Deuteronomy 29:19ff.

[7] Words, James Russel Lowell, 1845.  The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville:  Convention Press, 1975) # 385.

[8] Dr. Richard Nelson, Mercer University, c. 1995.