Dillon Pinnacles Trail

On March 28th, I drove through the Curecanti National Recreation Area on my way to Montrose, Colorado. Curecanti is a series of three reservoirs along US Highway 50 between Gunnison and Montrose.  The nearby national park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, is only partially open to vehicles in the winter months so I was happy to see that Curecanti has some hiking trails - seven to be exact.     The trails are all fairly short - two or three miles. I hiked Dillon Pinnacles, which is located off Highway 50 just before it crosses a bridge.

To get to the start of the Dillon Pinnacles trail, follow the paved road from the parking area; the trail marker is on the right side of the road. The beginning of the trail has great views of the Blue Mesa reservoir, which was completely covered in snow. On this part of the trail, there were no trees and it was a bit windy and cool. The hillsides were covered with sage.

The trail then climbed up through a gully to an intersection. As the sign at the intersection notes, in winter months, you must stay on the trail to protect the big game habitat. The chance of seeing wildlife was one reason I chose this particular trail. There are winter photos of the trail on the Curecanti National Recreation Area page of the SummitPost.org website so I figured the trail would be hike-able in winter. Most of the trail was dry but there were some muddy areas.

Unfortunately my camera did not capture what I saw on the slope very well. Approximately 30 deer gathered, lined up, and began crossing the slope together. At least you can see how camouflaged the deer were in this arid landscape.  

I later watched a few elk run down the hill towards the reservoir. It is hard to see them, but they are standing next to a juniper tree in the background of the photo below.

Along the trail, there are a few signs explaining how the pinnacles were formed millions of years ago and a few benches in case you want to stop and rest. It took me about 40 minutes to hike the 1.8 miles to the top of the trail. 

Obsession with Body Image

When I go to my athletic club these days, I see a very thin woman, borderline anorexic, working out obsessively. She is a young professional woman, probably in her late 20's, who has been going to my gym for more than a year. She gets to the club around the same time as me on week nights, then runs on the treadmill or uses the stair climber for an hour. Meanwhile, I warm up on the rowing machine, do a bit of strength training and cardio, stretch, and take a shower. When I leave the gym to go home and make dinner, I see "Annie Rexic" still going at it on the elliptical machine, barely moving the pedals.

Can You Exercise Too Much?

I work out regularly and I am slender myself so why does it bother me to see a thin woman with extreme exercise habits? Because it is disturbing to see a young woman doing something healthy to an unhealthy extreme. We know extreme dieting is harmful but there are long-term effects from extreme exercise as well: poor nutrition, menstrual dysfunction, and low bone density. In fact, eating disorders and over-exercising often go hand in hand. 

Is Annie just an avid exerciser or is she an obsessive exerciser? Besides being too thin, there are other signs that you may be exercising too much. According to Theresa Fassihi, Ph.D., there isn't a clear standard on how much exercise is too much. I know from reading running magazines that avid runners put in more than 50 miles of running a week. But I also know that avid runners don't typically choose to run so much on a treadmill unless the weather is bad. It seems rather compulsive to run eight miles or so on the treadmill as Annie does multiple times a week.

If you have an exercising disorder, you also may be very preoccupied about your body's appearance, weight and muscle mass. - Dr. Theresa Fassihi 

Yes, you can exercise too much. If you do over-exercise, you just might have an unhealthy body image. 

Learning to Have a Healthy Body Image

When I was young, I was very critical of my own body. My skin was too white. My hips were too wide, my legs too skinny, my butt and chest too flat. I was self-conscious about my perceived imperfections. I have the same "flaws" today but I have learned to have a much healthier, realistic body image. 

Rejecting criticism that doesn't fit. I have learned that people will criticize you for being thin just as people will criticize you for being over-weight.  When I was about Annie's age, an older co-worker asked me if I was anemic because I was pale and thin. I was offended by her question. I was fit and trim and protected my skin from the damaging rays of the sun. Appearances can be deceiving. I could be just as wrong about Annie's health as my coworker was about mine. I'm not a doctor. I don't know what is going on in her life or in her head that compels her to exercise so much. 

Loving your whole self. I have learned to see myself as more than the sum of imperfect body parts. I have learned to like all of me - my brains, my introverted personality, my kind heart. Sure, some of the parts of my personality and my body aren't perfect but when you throw them all together, I make a decent package (imho).  Isn't this the way we look at other people? We look at our friends and family and see that they're not built perfectly yet we love and accept them anyway.

Appreciating your genetic heritage. I see my father in the way I grin. I see my mother in my eyes. But my body shape isn't anything like my mother's. Many years ago, I visited my paternal grandmother and she showed me a picture of her standing next to my aunt. I had a sudden shock of recognition. My aunt's body shape was so much like my own. There is something really cool about seeing the way genes are passed down from one generation to the next. Besides that, what is the point of criticizing what is genetically determined?

Changing the things you can. I can't change the length of my legs or the width of my hips to make my body more proportional. I can't spot gain any more than a person can spot reduce. I can't tan because I don't have enough pigment in my skin. I learned to accept myself and to reject our culture's beauty ideals. To me, fitness is the best beauty secret. I learned that I have control over my fitness. I can make my muscles and my heart and lungs stronger. That's empowering! When you exercise regularly, three to five times a week, you see results. Not just on the outside but also on the inside. 

1. Being a healthy role model for other women. I am not a model of physical perfection but I am a model of healthy living, not just for young women like Annie but also for my peers. I model self-discipline and consistency. I model working hard and having fun. I model setting goals and achieving them. I make healthy eating choices more often than not. I exercise regularly three to five times a week with rest days in between so that my body can rebuild and recover. That's not obsessive - it's healthy. 

To me "Annie Rexic" looks like the thin women in photoshopped ads like the ones Target recently used to sell swimsuits to teenage girls. I am encouraged that our culture is beginning to reject the idea that women should look like this. I can't do anything about Annie's exercise obsession but I can look at her with compassion and show her what a healthy woman looks like.

From Jailhouse to Redemption

And Can it Be That I Should Gain

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Recently I watched an interview of Maury Davis, pastor of the Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tennessee. Davis murdered a 54 year-old woman when he was eighteen. In the interview, Davis said he was on drugs back then and remembers little about the murder. His defense claimed that he was possessed by demons at the time. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. While in prison, he became a Christian and began preaching to other prisoners. Because of prison over-crowding, he was released after serving only 8 1/2 years.

I did a search online for Maury Davis and found the details of his crime in the Nashville Scene story, A grieving son finds no justice on Rev. Maury Davis' path to redemption. Davis' short sentence certainly doesn't fit my own sense of justice. However, I am not so quick to dismiss his claim of finding God in prison because many people seek God at their lowest point. According to the article, the murder victim's son has a hard time believing that Davis has been redeemed:

Had he gone to a small town and a small farming community, and opened up a church and ministered to people in the backwoods, I might could buy that. But I don't know very many ministers who live in million-dollar homes in gated communities.

As the author of the article noted, "irreconcilable crossroads emerge(s) where the Christian tenet of redemption meets society's need for real justice" and "though God many remove all sin, the world of men is far less forgiving." I am not familiar with Davis' ministry but I will say this: the important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.  

Contrast Davis' "Prison to Priesthood" story with An Unreal Dream, the story of a man who spent twenty-five years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Michael Morton's wife Christine was beaten to death in their bed one morning in 1986, shortly after Michael left for work. Morton, thirty-two years old at the time, became the prime suspect even though there was evidence pointing to someone else - the testimony of the Morton's three-year old son about the man he saw, neighbors who saw a man parking a van behind the Morton's house, and a blood-stained bandanna that was found near the home.

There was no evidence pointing to Morton. The prosecution hung its case on the medical examiner's estimated time of death. The supposed motive -  that he was angry because his wife didn't want to have sex. The jury didn't get to see the exculpatory evidence and they convicted Morton for his wife's murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

It is hard for me to imagine how difficult it would be to be convicted for a crime you did not commit. Not having time to grieve the loss of your spouse because you're fighting to save your own life. Telling people over and over again that you are innocent and having no one believe you. Only seeing your child a couple of times a year.

Morton had to accept his fate yet he maintained his innocence. The one thing he had to look forward to in prison was seeing his son. When his son was twelve or thirteen he decided he didn't want to visit his father anymore. When he turned eighteen, Michael's son legally change his name. These rejections were crushing - they broke Michael's spirit.

Eighteen years after his conviction, Morton's case was taken on by the Innocence Project. The new legal team asked for DNA testing on the stored crime scene evidence, including the blood-stained bandanna. The district attorney opposed the request for DNA testing. Morton's attorneys also made public records requests for investigative materials, suspecting that key evidence was withheld from the defense. The DA fought this request too. He opposed Morton's release on parole because "Michael Morton has never accepted responsibility for murdering his wife." Morton was not willing to lie to get out of prison. It was six years before an appeals court ordered the DNA testing. The DNA testing identified the real murderer and Morton was freed.

The original prosecutor on the case was charged with withholding evidence. He served five days. Five days versus twenty-five years. This is a perfect example of justice gone awry. Yet despite this injustice, Morton was able to forgive the prosecutor who took away his freedom and smeared his good name. How is that possible?

Here are some of his words about his own path to redemption from prison:

When everything has been taken away, or what you think is everything at that point, it can feel awfully brutal.

Losing Chris didn't break me. Being convicted and being sentenced didn't break me. Spending 14 or 15 years down there didn't break me. But when I lost my son, that broke me. 

I didn't see any reason for anything, and I literally cried out to God, ‘I got nothing. I'm bankrupt. Show me something. Are you there?' I got nothing. And, uh, nothing happened. I just — nothing. Void.

Then, a week or so later...

Without any preamble or warning — no flags at all — I was suddenly bathed in this blinding, golden, indescribable light. It was all I could see. There was a roaring in my ears that blotted everything out," Morton said. "I felt that I was weightless, just floating above the bunk. I was experiencing bliss. I was very, very at peace.

Michael Morton, locked up behind bars with no hope of justice or mercy, called out God and God listened. Even though he was still imprisoned physically, his spiritual chains fell off and his heart was free.

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Heavenly Father, you know why these stories touch my heart. You have the power to transform lives. So I pray once again for Jeremy. May he know how much you love him. I pray for mercy. I pray for peace. I pray that his "unreal dream" will come to an end.  Amen.

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Snowshoeing The Crags (or Thereabouts)

Recently, I searched for a place to snowshoe near Denver without having to drive west on I-70 to get there. The I-70 traffic is awful on weekends during ski season; sitting in a car in bumper to bumper traffic is not our idea of fun. I remembered snowshoeing somewhere near Colorado Springs several years ago but couldn't remember the name of the trail. Our Snowshoeing Colorado (Claire Walter) book describes several trails in the Pikes Peak region, including The Crags Trail. I knew I had been there before, so on Saturday my husband and I drove south to Colorado Springs.

Getting There:

Once you get to Colorado Springs, you take US 24 west towards Divide, Colorado. The further we drove on 24, the snowier the road became. As we approached Divide, I read out loud the directions from a Gazette article I had printed, including the part recommending four-wheel drive. Kent said that if he had known that part, he would have said 'No' to this trip because his CRV isn't as good in snow as his old SUV.  From Divide, you drive south on highway 67. After about four miles, you turn left on Forest Road 383, which takes you to the Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp. From there, you continue on another 1.5 miles to The Crags Campground. We drove as far as the road was plowed, to a little parking area. 

From the parking area we headed up the unplowed road. There were tracks from cross-country skiers on the outside, so we snowshoed in the middle - a little act of kindness in sharing the trail. There appeared to be about six inches of fresh snow. I tried to use my GPS watch but it never found the location. 

And Wandering through the Trees...

After about a half hour of climbing up the road, we reached the parking area for the Crags/Devils Playground trailhead. We found a trailhead to the left and crossed a little snow-covered bridge. Crags and Devils Playground share the trail for a little while. When the trails parted, we stayed to the left and climbed up what appeared to be a trail through the trees. 

The little article I printed said that the trail "rolls up a gentle valley." The snowshoeing book also described the climb as gentle and steady. In snowshoes with fresh snow, the climbing was not easy. There were no tracks to follow and no trail markers. We weren't entirely sure if we were on the trail. At one point, Kent asked me to walk down the slope to our left a few feet to see if I could see the trail. The snow was even deeper there and I couldn't see a path through the trees. We continued on for awhile on our original route, then Kent looked down the slope to our right and saw some picnic tables. We decided heading down to "civilization" would give us a better chance of finding a clear trail to follow.

As you can see from the pictures in the picnic area, the snow was beautiful; I especially love the look of fresh snow on the trees. We found a forest road and headed down it, fortunately following Kent's sense of direction and not mine. That road took us to the Crags Campground. We snowshoed from there back to the Crags/Devils Playground parking area. Along the way, we finally saw one of the rocky outcroppings that this area is known for.

When we reached the Devil Playground parking lot, I decided to give my GPS another shot. This time it was able to pin our location. We headed back down the unplowed road that had taken us about a half-hour to climb up. We saw a few cross-country skiers heading up, then after awhile, a Jeep Cherokee or similar SUV sitting on the road not moving. We wondered if they were stuck. When we got down to the vehicle, the young woman behind the wheel asked how much further it was to the trailhead and whether the road was in the same shape the whole way. Since my GPS was working, I was able to give her an accurate answer! 

The section of road we snowshoed was 1.08 miles one way with a starting elevation of 9,677 feet and an ending elevation of 10,035 feet. It was a good workout, but it I were to do this again, I would bring a better map or carry the book!