Snowshoeing Calypso Cascades

My husband and I stayed in Estes Park, Colorado for a few nights last week in a cabin on Fall River. On our way to Estes, we saw a lot of damage to the homes in Lyons from the flooding in September. It is really amazing, as damaged as the roads were, that highway 36 to Estes Park was repaired so quickly.  We usually visit Estes Park in the summer when the streets are full of tourists.  In winter, the town is quiet and many of the shops are closed. Fortunately for us, the cabin we stayed in was not damaged by the floods. 

Lyons, Colorado

Tuesday morning, we drove to the Sandbeach Lake and Wild Basin trailheads to snowshoe. Sandbeach Lake trailhead is located about 13 miles south of Estes Park on Colorado 7; it is just a little further to Wild Basin. It had been really windy Monday night and the winds were still howling - my guess is about 50 miles per hour. When we got out of the car and walked a little ways, we decided not to snowshoe. The wind was so bad, it would not have been fun.

Instead of snowshoeing, we walked downtown and visited a few shops. As we approached one of the intersections, I thought I saw a statue on the corner and then realized it was real - a real elk. By the time we finished shopping, he had made his way down the street and was grazing close to our car.

Wednesday morning, we headed back to the Wild Basin trail head to snowshoe the Calypso Cascades trail. According to the weather forecast, the winds were only supposed to get up to 20 mph that day.  We got out and walked a bit again and decided it might be doable.

According to our Snowshoeing Colorado book, to get to the Cascades, you snowshoe "from the winter parking area to the summer parking area at the Wild Basin picnic area and ranger station" and continue on from there. Well we weren't exactly sure where our trail was supposed to start. The book said we would begin by crossing the "Hunters Creek" bridge and head south on Thunder Lake Trail. After parking at the Wild Basin parking area, we followed the road across a frozen creek. The road took us to another parking area but we didn't see a trail sign. So we headed back to the creek and looked around. Kent saw what looked like a trail next to the creek so that's the way we went. It took us right back to the second parking area. That time, we saw a trail sign for a horse trail and followed it. Eventually, the horse trail took us back to Wild Basin Road, which is where we were supposed to go in the first place!

To get to the summer parking area and the Calypso Cascades/Ouzel Falls trail, you snowshoe on Wild Basin Road for one mile. It was an easy mile with only 180 feet of elevation gain. As we hiked along Wild Basin Road, we saw several piles of brush in the forest. On Monday evening as we drove on US 36 to Estes Park, we saw a prescribed burn in progress next to the highway.  I was curious about whether a prescribed burn was planned in the Wild Basin area and found an article that describes the plans for winter pile burning at Rocky Mountain National Park.

As our book noted, the summer parking area for Wild Basin is well marked. The elevation is about 8,500 feet at the ranger station. From there, the trail climbs gently to an elevation of 9,200 feet at Calypso Cascades. We saw a lot of animal footprints in the snow but did not see any wildlife. (We only saw a couple of humans, cross country skiers.) The trail was primarily in a forested area protected from the wind. 

This link shows what Calypso Cascades look like in the summer.  http://rockymountainnationalpark.com/things-do/hiking/calypso-cascades

Stiff-Necked and Hard-Hearted

It has been one year since the Sandy Hook school shooting that took the lives of innocent children. According to a Media Matters blog dated December 10, 2013, there have been 23 Gun Safety Victories Since Sandy Hook. While I am grateful that there has been progress over the past year, it is not enough to cure what ails our country. So with renewed grief over yesterday's Arapahoe High School shooting so close to my own home, I am reposting an article I wrote after the Newtown shootings. God help us!

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I read the Bible almost every day so it is no wonder that certain words come to me as I think about the issues of today. In the Old Testament, God frequently referred to the Israelites as stiff-necked. Why did God call them that?  He called them "stiff-necked" because they were stubborn like the oxen the people used to plow the fields. If an ox did not want to be led, it would stiffen the muscles in its neck.

Sometimes stubbornness goes hand in hand with a hard heart. The book of Exodus tells the story of the Israelites' slavery in Egypt. God heard their suffering and chose Moses to lead them out of Egypt. He told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Hebrews leave his country. Before Pharaoh let the people leave, God sent many plagues to persuade him. Water turned into blood, flies, locusts, boils, etc. Pharaoh still stubbornly refused to let the people go. With each plague, God hardened Pharaoh's heart even more than it already was before. Why Did God Harden Pharaoh's Heart? According to Gotquestions.org, "God was giving Pharaoh increasingly severe warnings of the judgment that was to come."

The reason I have been thinking about stiff necks and hardened hearts is that since 12/14, many Americans, including some of my friends and relatives, have stubbornly opposed any restriction of gun ownership rights. It seems particularly cold and callous given the level of gun violence in this country and the horrific deaths of innocent children at Sandy Hook Elementary. Even though thousands of Americans are victims of gun violence every year and mass shootings are becoming commonplace, these gun advocates view any government restrictions on the ownership of weapons and ammunition as a yoke on their necks.

Matthew 11:30 (NIV)  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Evidently, these people do not want to be yoked by God either. The ten commandments God handed down to Moses include one that most people are familiar with: Thou shalt not kill. Another commandment frequently ignored by those who treat gun ownership as a sacred right is God's command about idolatry:

Exodus 20:3-4 King James Version 

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

"Other gods" are not just graven images. Anything that gets in the way of honoring, serving, and obeying God is an idol of your heart, including the reverence of guns. 

As a Christian, I don't comprehend why so many law-abiding citizens are opposed to common-sense  restrictions on the broadly worded right to bear arms our forefathers put in the Second Amendment.  Some people seem to be motivated by a desire to maintain the macho image they think guns give them and many others seem to be motivated by fear. The gun industry and the NRA encourage both of these instincts; it is quite profitable for them to do so.

I am motivated to oppose senseless gun violence by the higher law handed down by God the Father. God wants us to love one another. He has promised to be with and strengthen those who love him. We need not live in fear.

Isaiah 41:10 King James Version

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee;  yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.  

In 2010, the Presbyterian Church (USA) issued a paper titled Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God's Call. The paper encourages the church to "seek a spiritual response of grief and repentance, grace and courage to resist that [gun] violence and celebrate the Lord and Giver of Life." I have responded with grief to the mass shootings in this country as millions of others have. Grief is not enough. It is time for the faith community to speak out against our culture of violence, to honor God and celebrate the gift of life.

A Drum Major for Justice

Lorraine Hotel, Memphis, TN

My husband received a couple of books about Martin Luther King, Jr. as gifts - A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of MLK, Jr. and Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. [Stephen B. Oates]. I read part way through the first book and decided I would rather read the biography. The biography gave me a better understanding of the monumental struggle for racial equality in this country and a great appreciation for King's inspirational leadership of his people. But reading about King's life also taught me several lessons about standing up for social justice today.

1. God and Human Worth.  In explaining the timing of the civil rights movement, King noted that blacks had gradually learned to value themselves even as they continued to experience the humiliating effects of segregation and discrimination. One reason behind this increasing sense of self worth was their Christian faith. When you believe that  you were created in God's image and that God loved you enough to send his Son to die for your sins, you understand that you have worth as a human being regardless of your color.

Those of us who call the name of Jesus Christ find something at the center of our faith which forever reminds us that God is on the side of truth and justice.  - MLK, The Current Crisis in Race Relations

The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin, or his social position. Human worth lies in his relatedness to God. - MLK, The Ethical Demands for Integration

King often referred to his brothers and sisters as "children of God." The New Testament describes the believer's relationship to God as a relationship based on faith in Christ, a relationship that is demonstrated by love for our fellow man. 

Galatians 3:26-29 (New International Version)

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

1 John 3:10 (New International Version)

This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

2. Using God's Gifts for Good. King was an intelligent man, educated, and well read. He could have been an attorney or a college professor or lived the quiet, relatively peaceful life of a clergyman. Instead, he chose to help his people begin the struggle against oppression from the segregated city of Birmingham, Alabama. One of his greatest gifts was his way with words. He used colorful language and the tone of his voice to inspire, motivate and persuade. He repeated key phrases ("I have a dream...") and sprinkled his speeches and writings with metaphors. In the I Have a Dream speech, he compared the march for justice to cashing a check that has been returned marked "insufficient funds." He compared the Declaration of Independence to a promissory note. He understood the importance of choosing your words carefully because words can have negative connotations. He objected to the words "black power," which could suggest violence and the same sort of racial supremacy that he was fighting against.

3. Shedding Light on the Darkness of our Times. King showed the world that the Emancipation Proclamation did not put an end to racism. Though blacks were no longer slaves, they still faced the degradation of segregation and discrimination one hundred years later. Today, fifty years after the March on Washington, it is shocking to me to read about the state of racial relations in our country at that time and to read about how hateful whites were towards blacks. Racial discrimination is a dark and ugly sickness of the soul that is completely at odds with God's will. In my opinion, we have not come far enough in fifty years, but I am grateful that King exposed racism for the evil that it is. He made a difference.

4. Courage. It takes a great deal of spiritual courage to stand up for what is right, especially when you know that it puts your life at risk. King knew that his actions as a civil rights activist put him in physical danger and that he would likely lose his life for his cause. When he was arrested, he chose to be jailed rather than pay a fine because he wanted to highlight how unjust the laws were. He bravely led marches in some of the most racist cities in the South. He turned threats into opportunities. With his notoriety, being jailed brought national attention to the civil rights movement. 

5. Serving Others. A couple of months before his assassination, in a sermon called "The Drum Major Instinct," King preached about the natural instinct people have to be first. He quoted Jesus Christ who said "whosoever will be great among you, shall be your servant; and whosoever of you who will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all." 

We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. - MLK

Although King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, he wanted to be remembered as someone who gave his life to serving others, as a man who loved others, cared for the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the imprisoned.

If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the master taught, then my living will not be in vain.

6. Loving Your Enemies. Other civil rights activists chose to fight against racial inequality with violence; King chose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. There was a moment when he hated whites for the way they treated blacks but he understood that hate begets hate; violence begets violence. He admired Gandhi and used Gandhi's life as an example of how to live out Christ's love in the pursuit of justice. King often talked about the concept of agape, the selfless, sacrificial kind of love described in the Bible. As Jesus noted, it is easy to love those who love you; anyone can do that.

Matthew 5:43-48 (New International Version) 

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

7. God's Redeeming Grace. King's image as an American hero was tarnished by allegations that he was an adulterer. There is some evidence of this - J. Edgar Hoover was so determined to dig up dirt on King that the FBI bugged his hotel rooms and tapped his phone lines. I mention King's sin last, not to minimize it, but because at the end of the day, even our heroes have feet of clay. The biographer, Stephen B. Oates, quoted King as saying that "Each of us is two selves and the great burden of life is to always try to keep that higher self in command. Don't let the lower self take over." The apostle Paul wrote about his own struggle to keep the higher self in command:

Romans 7:14-20 (New International Version) 

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

When Paul prayed about his own weaknesses, the Lord told him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." To borrow King's metaphor, God's bank of mercy always has sufficient funds.

When I read about King's  assassination, I felt grief even though he died forty-five years ago. He was a drum major for justice, for peace and for righteousness.  I also feel thankful for his "marching band" - the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement. They marched for justice, rode the bus for justice, sat at segregated lunch counters for justice, even gave their lives for justice. 

Here are King's own words from his Nobel prize acceptance speech, wherein he honored the "ground crew" for enabling the "flights to freedom" to leave the ground:

Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet the years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live--men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization--because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake. 

We need more people in this world with the courage to stand up for justice. We need more people who know how to love sacrificially. 

Colorado National Monument Upper Trail

I visited Colorado National Monument one fall afternoon on my way to visit my nephew in western Colorado. Rim Rock Drive, the road through the park, is only about 23 miles long. I stopped at several viewing spots to take pictures, then headed to the Lower Monument Trail to hike for a couple of hours.

View of Rim Rock Drive

Independence Monument

View of Monuments from Rim Rock Drive 

I had read that the Lower Monument trail has great views of the monuments and bighorn sheep. A good write-up of the Lower Monument trail is on the Rocky Mountain Trails website. However, since I was already on Rim Rock drive (and wasn't sure how to get to the other trailhead), I hiked from the Upper trail entrance near the Coke Ovens. The descent to the canyon floor was rocky. I lost the trail a couple of times because it looked just like the rocky ground all around it! In one area, I missed seeing a trail marker sign and a cairn. There was a wash area that I thought might be the trail but fortunately, I reconsidered.

Sign and Cairn

I always look for wildflowers along the trails. The only flowers I saw on this late summer hike were broom snakeweed, asters and rabbit brush. The soil was very sandy on the canyon floor. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of cactus.

Broom Snakeweed

Asters

Coke Ovens

Kissing Couple

 I would love to go back to the park someday and hike some of the other trails. 

Managing Worry and Stress

Last week my company cut about 300 IT employees, including several from my office. This was not unexpected. The company has already severed employees in other departments this year. The RIF is part of a cost saving initiative that began months ago; jobs are being outsourced or moved to the Philippines. The terminations are stressful because they prove that even professional employees don't have real job security. Those of us who still have our jobs are sad because our coworkers aren't just numbers - they are our business partners and friends. We worry about how we will get things done without their expertise and about when and where the axe will strike next.

The same day that I learned that my coworkers were notified of their termination, I completed a Webinar on Stress Management which improved my perspective on the situation. As the instructor pointed out, stress is the body's response to a threat (even just a perceived one) and if you don't manage stress, it can put your health at risk. She also pointed out that some stress is good because it motivates us to do something. She led us through a deep breathing exercise and told us how to practice progressive muscle relaxation to reduce the tension in the body. I have tried mindful breathing and muscle relaxation techniques so I know they work. However, in some stressful moments, like commuting to work, you may not be able to do them. 

There are several other ways to relieve stress including laughter, visualizing a peaceful place, taking a hot bath, reading a book, even venting to a friend (though too much venting is counterproductive). My favorite stress-busting strategy is exercise. Not only does exercise produce feel-good endorphins, being healthy and fit makes me feel better about myself. The instructor also recommended using positive self-talk and coming up with a mantra to repeat when you are stressed.  I have found that listening to uplifting music also helps.

Since stress is a normal part of life, the instructor suggested that we define a goal for reducing stress, identify our typical stress triggers, and then develop a plan for coping with them. My personal goal is to remain calm under pressure. I feel stressed if I am being rushed, pulled in too many directions at once, or if things don't work the way they are supposed to. I also get stressed if there is too much disorder, e.g. if my house is too cluttered. I know that I sometimes over-react when things don't go right, so I have to ask myself if what I am stressing about is really worth getting worked up about. One step at a time. This too shall pass. Sometimes I get stressed because I expect too much of myself. For example, my goal is to respond to work emails promptly. But on my busiest days, emails are too disruptive. I need to cut myself some slack.

Besides my stress management Webinar, I also got some inspiration last week from a sermon on contentment and worry. The contentment part of the sermon was based on Philippians 4:11-13. Paul wrote that he had "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation." Pastor Brad pointed out that Paul described contentment as a secret, i.e. a mystery - something he had to learn. He learned that he could do anything through Christ, the one who gave him strength. Yet he had to choose contentment.

The worry part of the sermon was based on Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus said that we should not worry about our day to day needs because we are important to God and he knows our needs. Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries. My favorite scripture about worrying is from Philippians 4:6-7:

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 

The stress management instructor and my pastor presented very different strategies for dealing with stress and worry; obviously a company sponsored seminar is not going to tell you to pray about your worries. However, they both said that to cope with stress effectively, you must be adaptable or resilient. In my own work experience over the past couple of decades, I have found that this is true. The people who stay most content in an uncertain environment are the ones who are resilient, proactive, and positive. I can also say that prayer works for me - it is my deep breathing exercise! 

RMNP - Lumpy Ridge Loop

My husband and I visited Estes Park, Colorado for the Labor Day weekend. We planned to hike at nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, one of my favorite places (I once exclaimed "we should go every year!"). Although we could not find the park trail map we bought several years ago, Kent found a trail we could hike without entering the park, the Lumpy Ridge Loop. As we hiked and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, we could never have imagined that in just a couple of weeks, the town of Estes Park and many other small communities in Colorado would be devastated by flooding.

We started our hike fairly early - around 8:00 a.m. We wanted to have a good breakfast first but most of the restaurants in town didn't open until 6:30 on a Saturday. It often rains in the Rocky Mountains in the afternoon so we like to finish our hikes  before the rain hits. Several years ago we got caught coming down a mountain trail in a hail storm. That was a little scary.

An Adobe Acrobat version of the National Park Service's map of Lumpy Ridge Trails is available online.

We hiked in a counter-clockwise direction towards Gem Lake. After climbing a bit, we reached a part of the trail where you can look back and see the town of Estes Park.

View of Estes Park

Earlier this year, I I looked through some old photo albums and scanned a few pictures we had taken at Rocky Mountain National Park in the 1990's when we were visiting the park more frequently. So when we came to a rock with a hole in it, I thought "this looks familiar." As we continued on towards Gem Lake, I saw some layered looking rocks and again had that "I've been here before" feeling. My husband didn't think so but the pictures tell a different story! I like being right!

2013 Rock with Hole

1995 Rock with Hole

2013 Gem Lake

1995 Gem Lake

After Gem Lake, we hiked down a forested area and crossed Cow Creek.

Paintbrush

Grove of Aspens

One of the nice things about the Lumpy Ridge Loop is that the 12 miles is broken up by several smaller segments so you can monitor your progress easily. We debated leaving the loop and hiking to Bridal Veil Falls because it is only one mile from the Loop trail. We both have physical issues to contend with (feet and ankle problems) so I opted out of going an extra two miles. 

As we came back around the last five miles of the hike, there were a lot of views of the "lumpy ridge." As we looked up at the rocks, we could see a couple of rock climbers. 

Rock Climber

A portion of the trail passes through private land (the conservation easement area on the map).

We completed the hike in about four hours and we did not get rained on!

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

Last week, I posted a couple of paragraphs on Facebook from the US Treasury Department's website about the Debt Limit and said that it was time for Congress to get its act together. This was merely an expression of my frustration with Congress; it wasn't intended to be a partisan statement. Nevertheless, my post provoked angry comments from a casual friend who clearly has a lot of hostility for President Obama. I told the conservative friend that if he hates President Obama, it doesn't matter what I say, he will blame Obama for our economic problems. Yet it does matter what I say because at the end of the day, there is something far more important than the current Debt Limit. 

Words are important. As the lyrics of Hawk Nelson's song Words says, words can build us up or bring us down, start a fire in our hearts or put it out. Too often, people use negative words to blame, slander, denigrate and defame one another. Lies and inflammatory language are often used in politics to create discord and fear. If we care about the truth, we have to use discernment. We should seek to understand the intentions of those who speak badly about others.  And if the negative talk brings us down and changes who we are, then we should turn it off.

Our words not only affect the people who hear or read them, they also reflect what is in our hearts. Are we fair? Are we honest? Do we treat people with dignity and respect? 

Luke 6:45 (New International Version) The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

When I read the comments made by my conservative friend, his words told me a lot about the condition of his heart.

He plans to continue paying welfare, food stamps and illegal aliens but cut of SS, Medicare, etc. He will cut off those who have paid the taxes and keep giving it to those who haven't paid and won't compromise at all. It's time to look at the facts and quit listening to lies he and the media keep dishing out. This is all his fault and history will show it.

I read those words and was struck by the resentment my friend feels towards the President and towards those who receive financial assistance from the government. Even my non-believing friends understand the value of doing unto others as you would have done to you. They understand that when you give, you receive. Yes, we should do what we can to stop the cycle of poverty. Yes, we should encourage self-sufficiency. Yes, we should strengthen families to reduce the poverty rates in this country. The poor are not nameless, faceless people, they are individual human beings with individual stories.  

All too often, words are used to mislead people. One of the things that most frustrates me is that anyone can claim to be a Christian yet the world sees the truth. When your words and actions are inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ, you corrupt the image of Christianity and turn people away from Christ. If you claim to follow Jesus Christ, then stop walking in darkness. Practice the truth.  

1 John 1:5-6 (English Standard Version) This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  

I pray that my conservative friend will look to God for the truth instead of seeking salvation from a political party or leader. As for me, I pray that the Lord will make me an instrument of his peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Saint Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is error, the truth;

Where there is doubt, the faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.