Last week, Adam and Andrew and I decided to head up to the local mountains for a challenging, enjoyable dayhike experience. We set our sites on Purcell Mountain which has a lookout on top (although it is completely demolished.)

Our research showed that the trail was difficult to follow, which was an understatement. Along the way, we lost the trail and ended up heading straight up the mountain, eventually arriving at a spot just under a steep cliff.

With few options, we decided to try to carefully climb the cliff with the goal of finding the easiest routes toward the top. It was challenging, but we were making progress. Adam and I were in front with Andrew following about 20 yards behind (and below) me.

At one point, I turned around to check on Andrew, and just at that moment, a rock he was pulling on came loose. As he fell backward, his feet slipped, and he began a long, painful, rolling, tumbling, fall down the cliff. I was helpless to do anything  but yell, “Hang on, Andrew!” and PRAY! After bouncing a couple times on the 15-20 foot cliff drop, the terrain turned to steep dirt and rock, and after about another 15-20 feet, he eventually stopped.

There are few times in my life that I’ve had such a sickening feeling in my gut as helplessly watching my son fall down a cliff. The vision is forever etched in my brain, and I’ve helplessly reviewed in numerous times as I close my eyes.

I called to Andrew and to my immense relief he answered. He checked and there were no broken bones, just many bad scrapes and bruises, which was a miracle. If it had been me that had fallen, we would have needed lifeflight to pick up the pieces. Adam and I hastily (but carefully) made our way down to Andrew, checked him over, cleaned him up as best we could, and prayed together.

Then, since the way down was quite treacherous, we decided to slowly and carefully continue toward the top, choosing a different route, and eventually made it to the top of Purcell Mountain Lookout.

Amazing views greeted us at the top, but Andrew was a hurting unit, so we didn’t stay long before heading down, this time carefully following the trail.

These experiences certainly create memories (and good sermon illustrations), albeit a bit horrifying to go through at the time. Is the risk worth taking? Now that Andrew is starting to heal up, he would say that he’s glad we took the trip. But for our backpacking trip in a few weeks, Holly and Alyssa have made us promise to exercise a bit more caution and avoid any potential catastrophes.