February 2022

More adventures of Mountain Guide Ken in the Snow

27JAN2022 Dishman Hills Iller Creek Loop, 5.5 miles, 2:30 time, 1368 ft elevation gain. I did the hike to the Rocks of Sharon last week but was unable to go any further because of dense cloud cover. Thus, I decided to return on a day with less cloud cover. This time, I was able to actually see the Rocks of Sharon as well as the Spokane Valley and Mt. Spokane, and then to identify a parallel trail that ran down along Iller Creek which took me back to the car, making the entire trek a loop. The day was beautiful and I could see in the far distance. I obtained just a few photos of the Rocks as well as the trail back.

The Rocks of Sharon. On the left is the Palouse.
Another view of the Rocks of Sharon.
A winter wonderland for the trail back.
I was able to use my Microspikes for the whole loop. I used these Microspikes for my journey on the PCT. They are a little more durable than the Exospikes for ice and snow, and I was able to maintain a faster pace throughout the hike, maintaining full confidence in my stability with the earth.

01FEB2022 – Mt. Spokane State Park Snowshoe trails; 6.3 miles, 3:13 timing, 1,263 ft elevation gain. This was another beautiful day though it was cloudy in the Spokane Valley. I was a touch apprehensive with this new area, but it quickly proved to be a favorite of mine. I wondered what took me so long to discover the snowshoe paths of Mt. Spokane, save that I mistakenly thought that it was going to be a repeat of the snow conditions in the hills around Spokane Valley. It wasn’t. The snow was powder, there was little ice, and snowshoes were the perfect travel modality for these conditions. The trails were quite well defined. After parking in the snow park lot at the Kit Carson trailhead, I headed out. The trail was at first a snow-covered road. Following my nose, I eventually reached Smith Gap. There was an outhouse here, but there was also supposed to be a warming hut, which I didn’t notice. The trails went in three directions, but I chose a single file path upwards, with an arrow indicating that Mt. Carson would be ahead. After many curves and much climbing, I reached Saddle junction, where the road permitted snowmobiles. Throughout the trip up, beautiful glimpses of Mt. Spokane were noted but did not afford a photographic moment. A short side trail to the summit of Mt. Kit Carson was not yet broken in, so I decided against that route but did locate yet another alternate route back to the trailhead. This again went smoothly, save for the terror of having to cross a narrow log across a creek (see photo below). I reached the car feeling awesome and regretting that I had to depart. There were tears in my eyes all the way back home when I contemplated how much I loved the mountains, winter and summer.

Well-groomed road that started my journey
Single track trail up through the trees. It was impossible to tell that in summer this is a mountain bike trail.
Approaching the summit of Mt. Kit Carson
Narrow log bridge to cross, not so easy to do in snowshoes.

I’m already studying the maps, looking for more opportunities to return to this area. I see more trails, more adventures, and more discoveries awaiting.

Carpe Diem Redeemed

Carpe Diem Redeemed: Seizing the Day, Discerning the Times, by Os Guinness ★★★★★

Many people attempt to present themselves as the pundits of the times, a person with a deep insight into “what’s really going on” and how to assess the ebb and flow of our culture. Os is one of those few people that I look up to in this regard. I first read his Dust of Death in the mid-seventies while in college; this book served, along with the books of Francis Schaeffer and other L’Abri authors, as a bulwark against a militantly liberal university system. Now as I edge toward the end of life, Guinness still stays contemporary in his analysis of social philosophy.

Time. Mick Jagger noted that time was on his side. But, is it really? I fear that time is running out for Mick. What is time? How do you quantify it? How do you assure that time does not have giant gaps or pauses which go unnoticed by the time-constrained observer? Paul Helm provides probably the best insights into an Augustinian-Reformed perspective on the nature of time. How does one reconcile an infinite being that exists outside of time and yet interacts with creatures and creation in time? Paul Helm, in his magisterial text Eternal God suggests a philosophical conclusion and shows how his conclusions give answers to the great dilemmas about God, such as his omniscience (of the past, present, and future), omnipresence, and omnipotence. I have also delved into treatises on the philosophy of time from a physics perspective. Unfortunately, the physicist has a mind that is constrained to think in space & time terms, which is a construct of our minds. To ask a physicist, philosopher, or anybody to truly delve into a precise scientific definition of time is like asking a fish to describe water; he can’t, since that is his world.

Carpe Diem Redeemed is a little book, only 139 pages. It is a gem from start to finish. After giving a brief description as to how our culture thinks of time, Guinness delves into the three ways that time is considered, cyclical, linear, or covenantal-linear. The Judeo-Christian mindset does not view the world as a relentless, repeating flow of years, nor as a simple linear, non-objective, non-controlled, non-teleologic fate for mankind. Rather, in the covenantal view, God is the God of time. If one has watched the Dr. Who television series, Dr. Who is the Time Lord. Compared to Scripture, he is a pitiful time Lord, still subject to time’s vagarities. The true Time Lord, the triune Jehovah God, not only controls time and moves back and forth through time, but creates time, yet always lives outside of time (see again Paul Helm). From that philosophical perspective, the cyclical and linear perspectives leave the creature caught within time without a purpose, a telos, or hope. Yet, as Guinness explains, the Christian doesn’t often live as a covenantal-linear creature. We wash in the philosophy of contemporary thinking and then find trouble in the reconciliation with Scriptural claims.

I won’t labor through the remainder of this book since it is a book that should, perhaps must, be read. Guinness describes how western culture has become obsessed with time. We are slaves of the clock and have a hard time thinking outside of the constraints of the tiny device most people wear on their wrist. Our culture identifies with time values; “Old is mold; new is true” is essentially the implications of the progressive movement. Yet the implications that newer “things” are always more correct than older “things” is a dangerous presumption. Generationalism has been a highly destructive mode of thinking. Historically, a “generation” used to refer to all people living at a given point in time, such as the 1550s; now it refers to people born within a certain segment of time, such as the greatest generation, or the baby boomers, or generation X.

Guinness offers reflections as to how to start thinking again with time in a Biblical fashion. He offers a warm personal perspective, reflecting on growing up in China. In being personal, Os offers a challenge to the reader to seize the day in a Christian/Biblical fashion. This is a book that is very much worth reading by the Christian who wishes to see how the secular culture has influenced our perspective on time as well as offering a Biblical means of thinking as a Christian.