“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; … The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.”
Hebrews 12:18,21-23a NIV
Making the ascent to the top of Panoramic Point in Kings Canyon National Park is a beautiful experience. The San Joaquin Valley and its acres and acres of almond, citrus and olive groves gradually give way to the rolling, golden foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range; it is an elevating experience in contrasting vegetation.
Leaving the outskirts of Fresno, California, situated at 295 feet above sea level and climbing up from the generously irrigated farmlands, you can see golden mounded islands placed among fields of green out your rear window. To get to the overlook at Panoramic Point, you must travel into Sequoia National Monument to Grant Grove Village, which is approximately 6,500 feet in elevation. From there, you continue uphill on a precipitously narrow two-lane road to the trailhead where you will hike a half mile to gain an additional 100 feet and arrive at approximately 7,500 feet above sea level. A late July visit afforded us the stark contrast in temperatures and topography that comes with such a drastic elevation change.
But all these facts and figures were not present in my mind as we set out that day. I had planned our route from a bird’s eye view with no appreciation for the rapid elevation changes. Abruptly, a sign at the bottom of a hill said … “AVOID OVERHEATING, TURN OFF AIR CONDITIONING NEXT 8 MILES.” Whoa! My heart started racing and I immediately rolled down the windows and turned off the air conditioning. Perhaps our late model rental car would have been able to handle the engine strain, but I was taking no chances! I grew up with cars that did overheat and I was taught selective air conditioning as a defensive driving technique!
I can remember a time when I was small and my family was making one of our frequent treks from the mountainous north central Pennsylvania to the “flatland” of Chester County to visit our relatives. Our little Chevy Cavalier station wagon was having troubles at the last minute, so our dear neighbors, the Kenyons, let us borrow their car, a large, black General Motors sedan with plush velour interior.
At one point along the trip, you have to crest Steam Valley Mountain, an elevation of 1706 feet in the Allegheny Range. The road back then was not designed with the current more gradual elevation changes and put a larger load on the vehicle engines. Climbing Steam Valley was always an experience that caused you to breathe a sigh of relief when it was over!
On this particular day, we were grateful for the borrowed car, but it couldn’t take the climb in the summer heat. How well I remember being stuck at the Gulf station at Fry Brothers Turkey Ranch until the temperature came back down on the gauges. The lesson drilled into my developing brain that day was “turn off the AC” when climbing mountains in the summer!
So, it was with no small amount of trepidation that I began the ascent this summer up to King’s Canyon after seeing the “Turn off AC” sign!
Rounding each hairpin turn revealed mountains rising up to greet us and ever deepening valleys that became more alpine as we ascended. Definitely worth the slow drive, Panoramic Point gave the distant view of the High Sierras including the 14,242 foot tall North Palisade. My feeling of wonder at the expansive majesty displayed before me made this particular moment a true mountaintop experience.
Talk of mountaintop experiences is ubiquitous, especially in religious circles. Easy to compare our daily lives to an uphill climb, we speak of pressing onward and upward toward loftier goals in our spiritual and physical lives. Vast catalogues of inspirational songs about climbing mountains exist and there are entire industries and careers devoted to scaling them.
Some mountains are not ones that we want to climb, much like the terrifying Mt. Doom that Frodo must journey to in the Lord of the Rings. Every one of us must face our own mountains in life: mountains of disappointment, illness, loss, addiction and broken relationships are but a few of the obstacles that we are afraid to climb.
I love the verses in Hebrews 12 that hearken back to the Old Testament’s account of the fire and smoke that surrounded Mount Sinai. Terror filled the camp and the Israelites were too scared to approach the mountain, so they requested that the frightened Moses go it alone. In contrast, the Mount Zion spoken of by the writer of Hebrews is a mountain of joy, a city of first born whose names are written in Heaven. It was to such a mountain as this that I felt I had come that day as I gazed in awe at the King’s Canyon that my Lord had created. The white-knuckle-windows-down-to-the-arid-heat-of-California driving gave way to a cooler climate of calm, both outside my window and inside my mind. Yes, the air was thinner, but from my 7,500-foot point of view, my fears seemed thinner, too.
ABOUT THE BLOGGER:
Sarah Flowers lives in idyllic Chadds Ford, where she is steeped in beauty and connection to the land and its history. She loves coffee and flowers and getting to know Jesus. A lifelong learner, she seeks to follow God’s plan to bring hope to His children. Sarah is a self-declared serial optimist and melodiphile; there’s always a path to the sunny side and a soundtrack for the journey! She is a mom and wife and a grateful alumna of Northwood University. Her former iterations include automotive professional and shoe diva. Sarah is one of the co-hosts of the podcast Trustworthy and is “most likely to ride bikes in the woods!