CHOOSING PATHS

I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. (Proverbs 4:11)

If you view a map of our 10-acre property, it’s more than a little confusing. There’s a paved parking lot at the base of a rough road which zigzags up the mountainside, carving our land into three separate parcels. The parking space and road easements are actually cut out of our private land, but we own the terrain surrounding them. We quickly learned that the road is gazetted and appears on Google maps, so anyone can use it. It serves as an access road for Telus vehicles as there is a telecommunications tower above us. The parking lot was built and paved because it is such a popular hiking trail that vehicles were lining the road and impeding passage.

We counted a group of 14 hikers one day

If you know where you’re going when you climb the trail, it eventually leads to an amazing geological formation called the Keremeos Columns. There’s a small provincial park up there as well, but by an odd twist of fate, the columns aren’t actually in the park and can only be accessed by traversing private land. On the BC Parks website under Keremeos Columns Provincial Park, it says, “This is an adventure that requires fortitude as it’s a long hike through sagebrush country concluding with a steep climb.” In fact, it is 11 km return with an elevation gain of 676 meters, and the trail head is literally in our back yard.

The magnificent Keremeos Columns

So of course, I wanted to get up and check out these rock monuments as soon as I could. They are described as spectacular formations created approx. 30 million years ago during a period of high volcanic activity. They were formed from molten basalt cooling slowly and shrinking during the process so that the rock cracks at 120 degree angles. In this case, the characteristic hexagonal jointing of basalt has resulted in a 90 meter cliff rising vertically out of the surrounding Douglas fir forest. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single trail leading to the columns and there is no signage, so I didn’t know exactly how to get to my destination.

My first attempt to get close to the columns took me up the mountain, around behind the Telus towers, and maybe 30 minutes onward following the main trail. I discovered a lovely cool “glen” where the trail led through a ravine that cut down the mountain providing a water course and habitat for trees and birds. Deep in the glen, I noted a fence line and Nature Trust sign indicating they owned some of the land beyond the fence. I knew that Nature Trust had just recently purchased an area they wanted to preserve and that it was in the vicinity of the columns. I thought I was on the right track but decided that was enough exploration for the day.

The next day I ventured up again, ducked through the barbed wire, and wandered quite a distance in what was obviously a cattle pasture. No cliffs were appearing as I topped knolls and searched the landscape, so I back-tracked to the fence and returned to the main trail. Onward and upward I hiked around the curve of the mountain, hoping to see my destination just around the next bend. I rounded 7 bends and thought I might be getting close when I started seeing huge boulders that had broken loose from the top and crashed down to rest beside the trail. I could also see that the peak was a rocky outcrop. Was that the columns? On I trudged but turned around at a cattle gate when the trail did not seem to be leading any closer to my destination. When I got home, my phone had logged 13.5 km and I had not reached my goal. Without signs or a map, I had been wandering quite aimlessly in the wilderness.

My next attempt was supplemented by a little more information from a neighbor: “You have to go around behind the Telus towers and keep following the trail until you come to a "Y" in the road. Take the fork to the left.” Okay – up I went and veered left at the first fork I came to after the tower. I hadn’t been on this route, so was eager to explore a different area. The road dwindled to a path very quickly, but it was a solid hiking trail, so good. I even had the pleasure of meeting a big mule deer buck. However, soon the trail turned to a groove worn by wildlife and then ceased to be distinguishable from any other rabbit trails picking their way around the sagebrush. Lost again among the plateaus and knolls connecting the mountains together. I thought I glimpsed a more substantial track up ahead so struck out cross-country until I reached it. I reasoned that this might stem from a “Y” in the road farther on from the one I had taken. 

The correct fork

It was pretty steep from here on, but I clambered upward. I encountered a barbed wire gate with another Nature Trust sign and a legit hand crank to open it. Through I went and climbed until I came to a more forested area, cool refreshing air and shade bringing relief to my hot sweaty body. Because of the trees, you can’t see the columns until you are almost at their foot, so it was a sudden and delightful surprise when my destination rose before me in all its glory. I stood in awe in a whole different world, surrounded by evergreens and a needle strewn pathway instead of a sun-baked rocky road. Perseverance had paid off; I had reached my elusive destination and been rewarded by a natural wonder. On my return route, I noted that, indeed, there was a second fork in the road just before the glen I had discovered on the earlier trip. My friend had not instructed me to take the second fork.  

Sorry I have blabbed on so long about this, but I wanted you to get the sense of how long I wandered about on wrong paths in my quest to find the trail to the columns. Several times verses and stories from God’s word came to mind. The scriptural archetype of God guiding us along the right path or the straight way invited all kinds of comparisons as I walked. I felt I could identify with all the people in my life who are searching for the path that will lead them to whatever they are looking for, the destination that will satisfy their yearning. I remembered the times that I had wandered off the true path and taken a lot longer to reach my destination. Of course I thought of a passage in Jeremiah that has become a life verse for me. “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls’” (Jer. 6:16). Interesting vistas and gratifying experiences can be found when you leave the trail – I had met up with the mule deer and a herd of Black Angus – but true rest is only found when walking the ancient paths, the good way. A little farther on in Jeremiah, we read, “Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths. They made them walk in byways, on roads not built up” (18:15).

Most of us are guilty of forgetting God for some period of time and spending time pursuing worthless idols which make us stumble in our spiritual, emotional or physical lives. We've left the safe path and wandered on byways that leave us mired in confusion, anxiety and fearfulness. But it's always a good time to readjust our trajectory by returning to the smooth path that God has prepared for us, that many have trod before us (Isaiah 26:7). A well-known passage in Proverbs provides instructions for how to get back on track: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (3:5-6).

Unexpected beauty

The voices around us tell us that we must trust our heart, our instincts, our feelings, our own wisdom, but scripture tells us that "the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Naturally, we lean on our own understanding and we certainly don't want to submit to an invisible God, but he has promised to make our paths straight if we trust in him completely.

We are thankful that God continues to direct our paths in the building process as well. The cottage now has walls and rafters! We have had a few supply problems and Rick is still wrestling with the solution to getting water from a 340-foot-deep well to the cottage and then the house. But there have only been a couple half days when the work has come to a standstill. We think we are still on track to meet our goals of getting the cottage weather-tight and bringing power to the property before we leave this fall.

Upper left is my 88-year-old dad who has come to help Rick build

A shot taken today from uphill

We plan to be here until sometime during the first week of November. We are thankful that the weather is holding with daytime highs over 20 and nighttime lows 6 or 7 degrees. The guys will get the roof sheeted and the windows and door in this week. 

Thanks for reading!

R & C