Summit Ministries

This morning at Summit started a little differently than the previous mornings. Something along the lines of: "Good Morning, it is 5:15 a.m. if you are planning on climbing Pikes Peak meet in the lobby at 5:40, if you are going White-water rafting meet at the picnic tables at 5:45. If you are not planning on doing either you can disregard this message and go back to bed." Most of the students, including myself, pulled ourselves out of bed so we could start our day of adventure activities. . .

I was a part of the group that made the 14 mile climb to the top of Pikes Peak. We left the Summit Hotel a couple of minutes late and walked through town until we reached the bottom of the trail. The leaders told us that in order to complete the climb we had to make it to Barr Camp, approx. 8 miles up the trail, by 9:05. Those who didn't make the "cut" were instructed to turn back. My group was at the camp by 8 or so and we were very appreciative of the short rest. After about 15 minutes, and some water and trail mix, a group of six of us headed off for the final miles of the trip. Our group of six was lovingly termed the "human robots" because we were climbing machines. . . The scenery on the trail was beautiful, and once we made it above tree-line it became amazing. I could not stop thinking about how beautiful it was, or how some people can believe that an earth this beautiful and amazing could be the product of a "Big Bang" billions of years ago. We truly have an awesome God and Creator! We reached the summit at 11:20 (which I have been told is one of the Summit records) and after a couple pictures decided to go into the Pikes Peak store to hang out. The first van was coming to get us at 1 so we had plenty of time. A few of us dropped small fortunes at the store buying either food or souvenirs, but that's another story.

After awhile we started to see other Summit students meandering their way to the top and after more pictures and shopping the vans showed up. The ride back down took about an hour and the showers at the hotel were starting to sound pretty good. It was a great experience and a very fun hike; I would like to do it again someday, just not anytime in the immediate future. . .

The rafters started to get back to the hotel around 3 o'clock and from all of the students and staff I talked to it sounded like they had a great time. After dinner and some more free time we had praise and worship led by Kirk, followed by Dr. Noebel's lecture/talk on Secular Humanism and its influence on the entire country, college students especially. This was followed by a British documentary about the "Global Warming Swindle." It was a very interesting documentary, but I have to admit it was a chore to stay awake through the slower parts. . . I am thinking this will be the best night's sleep I have had yet at Summit and cannot wait to wake up tomorrow to start a new week of classes at Summit.