“Short Hike” Relationships

Written by Mike Webb (6/4/09)

Well, as mentioned last week, we’ve done two hikes recently.  The first was the Rose River Falls trail, the other was the “long” version of Mary’s Rock.

Rose River Falls:  Easily my favorite.  This trail combines distance and elevation gain for a fairly strenuous hike, and by far the most beautiful scenery and interesting landmarks of any of the hikes we’ve done.

A group of us went out on a beautiful Saturday morning.  As we got underway, we saw several Park Service rescue vehicles.  All sorts of scenarios came to mind, ranging from the mundane (training exercise) to the gruesome.  Considering this is one of two trails where we have encountered bears on the trail, we pictured all sorts of things.  As it turned out, an unfortunate woman had broken her leg on the trail.  I’m amazed at how many people we’ve encountered who have hurt themselves while hiking.  I’ve never considered hiking a dangerous endeavor; apparently, I should re-think that.

That was the extent of the excitement for the day; to our major disappointment, saw no bears this day.  We had to content ourselves with several deer feeding on the other side of the cascades on our ascent, and with the ever inspiring views of falls and cascades along the trail.

Our final stop before returning to our vehicles was the small cemetery along the fire road to pay homage to those buried there.  I’m still intrigued by the idea that before this was a National Park it was home to many families.  Where I go to “get away from it all,” they made home.  They lived, and died, and were buried right here.  There were homes and churches in these mountains and many of the fire roads are remnants of roads these folks traveled up and down to the flatlands.

Mary’s Rock:  OK, “long version” is a little misleading.  Even the “long version” is only about 2 miles long; ½ uphill, ½ downhill.  Up and back – that’s it.  Ah, but the view from the top is awesome!  With the large granite outcroppings, this is a poor (or lazy) man’s Old Rag hike.  The views are every bit as good as from Old Rag.

Valerie and I had a wedding to attend that afternoon, so a short hike was better than no hike, so off we went.  We were joined by some friends, a couple, Randy and Julia, who also will be traveling to the Meet Your Maker – AZ week trip with us to Sedona, Az. and Grand Canyon the end of June.

Once again, no major excitement (no rescues, no bears, no bobcats) on this day, but we did have plenty of good conversation and an exhilarating bit of exercise.

The Mary’s Rock hike reminded me of an important point:  just as in hiking, so it is in our relationships, a “short hike” is better than “no hike,” and “major excitement” is not a necessary component in order to have enjoyment; sometimes, good conversation is all it takes.

I have a tendency to put off making a call, or visiting in person, those I care about until I can make it a “proper” visit.  You know, spend a lot of time talking and eating, spending hours in one another’s company.  There is one problem with this idea however:  how often do you get hours of free time to go spend somewhere visiting?  If you’re like me, you have to do some major schedule arranging to make these types of visits happen.  And usually, we don’t.

My brother lives 40 minutes away from me, but he lives in the town I work in.  We are constantly trying to arrange “a visit.”  Not just “a visit,” but a few hours long visit, usually centered on a meal.  And “a visit” never happens.  How much better if I was to just stop in on my way to or from work occasionally for a 15 – 30 minute face-to-face?

How much better to just take the “short hike” to let folks know you’re thinking of them and they matter to you!

This principal applies especially to our relationship with our Creator.  How much better to make frequent, shorter “hikes” to talk to Him than to neglect Him for long periods of time waiting for that one , long, “special” time with Him.  He wants to hear from you – don’t put it off.  Read a chapter if that’s all you have time for.  Say several brief prayers if you weren’t able to spend that hour in quiet time this morning.  Sing, or listen to, praise songs during the day to put you in His presence.  The important thing is (sorry Nike) – Just Do It!