What a day! When someone says that, you need to hear a tone or see their countenance in order to understand whether it is a good: What a day! or a bad: What a day! In our case, it isn’t our tone or our countenance, it was what time of the day it was said. Before I get started, I wanted to share a couple of pictures of some wildflowers. They are everywhere. It is hard to see in the landscape pictures, but they cover the fields and are all over the woods. They add color to every hike.

Everything started out pretty good. After breakfast, we broke down camp. The awning and walls came down quicker than I thought they would. Then, Maddie and I did a little filming for a few projects before checking our schedule for the rest of the trip. We thought it would be a good idea to call the Teton Ranger Station to make sure that the routes that we plan to climb would be doable by the beginning of next week. I was able to talk with a ranger named Paul. He was nice and knowledgeable. He highly suggested that we move our Teton plans to the end of July. We were bummed, but with a high snowfall year in that area, we knew this might happen.

There are more people here than you can shake a stick at. For those who didn’t grow up in the South, that means that there are lots of people here. It’s a little odd. More people are showing up each day. I can’t imagine how many people will be here this weekend. We were able to find a parking place near the area where we wanted to climb, but when we got to the rock, it looked like we were at the climbing gym during rush hour. I snapped this picture just before seven or eight more people showed up at the wall we were going to climb. Climbing is much more mainstream than it was twenty-five years ago. It was so crowded that we decided to head into town to pick up a few things.

While we were in Lander, we stopped at Wild Iris Mountian Sports. This is a shop that we have gone to when we are in the area since the late 1990s. I met Trevor from Canton, Georgia who works there. We had a great conversation. We talked about climbing and the town of Lander. He made paying retail for the two items that I bought not so bad.

With our plans needing to be changed, we decided to head back up to Wild Iris for the afternoon. We planned to climb and spend one more night in the area. With the crowd, we decided to climb in an area that was about a twenty-minute hike from the parking lot. We reasoned that if it was just as crowded as the other walls, at least we would get a good hike in. When we got to the wall, we met Walker and Christy from Atlanta. They were the only ones near the climbs that we wanted to do. After talking for a few minutes, I found out that Walker grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and went to Southside Christian Academy. We laughed before heading our separate ways.

We only climbed two routes, and we didn’t get good pictures or videos of either. I did take my first fall of the trip on a climb that I shouldn’t have fallen off of. Gravity seems stronger these days. Maddie did a great job of catching my ten to twelve-foot fall even with my knees catching her in the ribs. I fell just before clipping the second bolt. When I stopped, my feet were only a foot or so off of the ground. She asked, “How was the catch?” My reply was any catch that keeps me off the ground is a good catch in my books.

Here is a picture of us heading back to the Jeep. This place is beautiful! When we got back to the area where we have been camping, everything was full except for one pullout. There is enough room for 6 or so cars, but a guy had the entrance blocked. I told Maddie that I was going to have to go have a talk with him. I think she thought I was going to embarrass us. His name was Dan, and he is from Denver. He was saving the area for some of his friends that were coming later in the night. After we talked, he moved his car, and we backed into a spot. The wind picked up about this time. It blew harder than it has in the last three days, and the temp started dropping. We cooked, ate, cleaned up, and crawled into PB&J for the night.

There are lots of people scurrying around this morning as I type. To be honest, it doesn’t feel much like the wilderness…lots of people and full cell service…not much different than Powdersville. Well, I guess 35-40 degrees difference.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In the world that I am living in for the month of July, most of the people that I will encounter have vastly different beliefs than I do. Most are non-religious, New Age, or a mixture of Buddhist, Hindu, and New Age to suit their taste. Most have different political views. It may be best to sum it up by saying that most have different world views. As Dorthy said, “We aren’t in Kansas anymore…” As a Christ-follower, I have nothing to fear. My God goes with me because He lives within me.

I can interact with people who are unlike me without being discouraged. It is okay to stick out like a sore thumb. When we treat people with respect, doors open for them to see Christians differently. Doors open for them to see Christ living in and through us. We don’t have to condone actions that go contrary to god…sin, but we must understand who Christ died for: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. I pray that if you are a Christ-follower, you will love people, and if you aren’t a Christ-follower, I pray that you overlook the broken people who make up the Church and see Christ for Who He is.

Because He Calls, Old Climbing Dad