Guest Blogger-Ben Brown

I hiked with Pastor Ben for 76 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. Here are his comments: 

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for 1.5 days now, I can honestly say this is intense stuff. All those day hikes I did growing up look like child's play compared to this hike. Here are some observations so far on the trail...

1) Hikers are all over the place one minute, no where to be found the next. Where do they all go?!

2) The shortest distance between Point A and Point B is not the objective of the PCT. The trail twists and turns like crazy. At one time today, we switched back south for quite a while. It looked like we were headed back to Mexico!

3) Snow can be in the weirdest places. We've seen a lot of it in small pockets along the trail, even at lower altitudes in the middle of summer. There were a couple small patches that seem to just be hanging on. Why hasn't it melted yet?!

4) Fifteen miles is a LONG way to hike in the high Sierra. I wish I was in better shape!

The experience is challenging yet rewarding. It teaches me a lot about what I can endure, in some of the most extreme conditions. It causes me to reflect on things that are most important, like faith and family. It's producing things in me that I know I'd never experience if I didn't step out and hike 76 miles in 5 days.

Seriously, I think of James 1:2-4...
"Consider it a great joy whenever you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must finish its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing."