Submitted by David Anderson.
There’s a place above Enchanted Valley in the Olympic Mountains of Washington that is a struggle to reach.
Switchbacks, a total elevation gain of some 2,000 feet, about half of the trail described as “thin (8-16 inches wide), full of softball size loose and jagged rocks.”
Maybe that’s why the arrows on the sign pointed left for the Upper Duckabush; right for Nine Stream; but straight up for “Home Sweet Home.”
Nate Burgher, who hiked the trail – sometimes listed in the “very hard” category – wrote of his experience that “the left side of your body (high side) takes a beating from the uneven trail.”
Wrote Burgher, “By the end of this hike our feet were blistered, and my left hip stabilizing muscles were killing me.”
My dad and I hiked that trail.
Enchanted Valley, also known as “The Valley of 10,000 Waterfalls”, is listed as one of the must-do, “jaw dropping” hikes in the Olympic Wilderness.
It gets better – if that’s the word, given it is “very hard” – above The Valley.
At the very top of O’Neill Pass there’s a sign that says, “Home Sweet Home.”
You’ve arrived.
Do you know what you can see from “Home Sweet Home”?
Everything.
You can see, far down below, where you’ve come from.
You can see, far out over Enchanted Valley and the snow-capped peaks on the far side, the baby-blue haze of the Pacific Ocean.
You can see everything.
From “Home Sweet Home.”
Just two days ago “The Conservative Tribune” published an article by Randy Alcorn.
Here’s his opening paragraph:
“Mountain climbers could save time and energy if they reached the summit in a helicopter, but their ultimate purpose is conquest, not efficiency. Sure, they want to reach a goal, but they desire to do it by testing and deepening their character, discipline, and resolve.”
Alcorn has a mountain to climb. Though rocky, narrow, and very hard, it’s not physical exertion that prompts him to put pen to paper.
It’s emotional.
“I write these words,” said Alcorn, “not from a lofty philosophical perch, but in the crucible of my precious wife Nanci’s battle against cancer. This is not theory to us; it is life.”
Do you know what you can see as a result of that struggle says Alcorn?
Everything that matters.
