Saturday, August 27, 2011

More Stories from the Trail



Near the summit of Twin Sisters Peak
    For those that read my last post, my 4 year old son Cooper had a revelation about the looks of God.  This was where he thought God had a mustache.  Well this little musing is along the same lines.  So I will begin by setting the scene for you.
    We had begun the day in Rocky Mountain National Park.  We had decided to summit the Twin Sisters peaks.  These were two peaks that are 11,250 and 11,400 respectively.  The trail was roughly 3.5 miles to the top.  The peaks themselves are just a few hundred feet apart so once you top the first you walk the saddle and then scramble up some boulders to the top of the next.
    It was a beautiful morning, temps were in the mid 60's to start and not a cloud in the sky. The family was coming off a hike yesterday of nearly 8 miles and 2000 feet of elevation gain.  It seemed that everyday we managed about 8 miles and some sort of elevation gain.  Every day both our boys Connor (10) and Cooper hiked solidly.  Connor hiked every day without complaint and I think proved a lot to himself about how strong he was.  Now Cooper on the other hand was pretty resilient in that he hiked for at least an hour and a half each day roughly 3-4 miles at our pace, and once he tired he hopped in the backpack which I happily hauled each day.
    We had made the first summit in roughly 3 and a half hours.  Cooper had hiked about an hour of the three and a half then I hauled him the remainder of the way.  At the top we chose not to spend too much since the winds were picking up and the rain was in the distance.  Kerrie and I made the decision to pack up and begin the long hike back down. 
    We made good time and Cooper had fallen asleep in the pack for about the first hour.  This helped me focus and move quickly through the most technical portions of the descent.  Once Cooper woke up he asked to walk a bit.  It is here that the walk became very interesting.  Cooper had once again regained his chatterbox mood and had a multitude of questions, the way I know they were questions is the "Right Daddy?" following the constant stream of chatter.
    The clouds darkened and I knew we were going to get caught in the rain.  Cooper on the other hand had a different thought. 


Cooper turned and said,"God has made a beautiful mountain right daddy?"
Me: "Yes". 
Cooper: "We are good people right daddy?"
Me: "We try to be."
Cooper: "Well if we are good people then God won't let it rain on us right daddy?"
Me: "Well sometimes good people get rained on."
Cooper: "I know God won't let that happen to us right daddy?"

    It was at this point the first drops of rain began to fall.  Cooper was still walking and chattering but I was encouraging him to move a bit faster.
 
Cooper: "It's OK daddy we are good people, it will be OK"
 
    Well, we must not be entirely that good, and I blame it on me because the rain started to fall a bit heavier.  I stopped and told Cooper to hop in the backpack so we can move a bit faster.  Cooper was a bit upset, and finally lashed out;
Cooper: "Daddy, why isn't God listening and making the rain stop?"
Me: "Because he needs to water his garden"
Cooper: "But our garden is far away, is it raining there?"
Me: "No I think it is just raining on us"
Cooper: "Well, I think I will ask him again to make it stop, OK Daddy?"
Me: "Sounds Good."
    Well the rain never really stopped, it did slow and became intermittent but I think Cooper talked to me more than God the rest of the way down the mountain.  But for one hour of that hike, I again walked in amusement and fascination of the mind of my 4 year old.  It really thought hard about how I need to keep impressing our morals and values because I know deep down something is resonating. 
    I also need to keep listening a bit more because I think I have agreed to give Cooper, a new car, truck, four wheeler, bike, trees, dog, house, toys, tractors, end loader, a combine, and who knows what else!

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