pinnacles

This weekend I went for a hike at Pinnacles National Monument along with a group of guys for my friend Johann’s bachelor party.

The ‘before’ picture. I didn’t realize that we were supposed to be smiling for this picture…

Pinnacles is known for rock climbing. At various points along the trail that we hiked, we watched people go up the hard way. We went up the easy way– On the trail.

The trail was interesting, passing through lots of narrow rock passages.

The trail took us through a cave.

There were various areas inside the cave where sunlight filtered through cracks in the ceiling, making for some interesting lighting. Johann, the bachelor, poses in one of those areas.

There’s a reservoir a couple of miles in, which is where we stopped for lunch.

Here’s a view of the reservoir from higher up on the trail. The variety of scenery on this short hike is pretty impressive. Within just five miles we hiked through caves, to a reservoir, and to the tops of some interesting rock formations.

You can hike to near the top of the pinnacles, and scramble up some rocks for an amazing view.

So I thought that the place where I was standing was the highest point, but in this picture the rocks in the far left actually look higher. I blame the wide angle lens.

I don’t really go to the Bay Area very often anymore, so I don’t really see most of these friends very often anymore. Among this group are some of my first Christian friends, who brought me to where I am in my faith. They’re definitely a good group of guys.

After the hike we took some time to share and encourage the bachelor. And during that time someone half jokingly said we’d be roasting him too. I tried really hard, but I couldn’t think of a single negative thing that I could say about Johann. He’s just that kind of guy, with a really good heart, and he truly lives out his convictions. I have no doubt that he’ll be a great husband, and his future wife, Judy, is really lucky.

One of my earliest memories of Johann was actually from Sunday school. I remember we were just talking about random stuff, and I remember mentioning that I was kind of burnt out on school. He shared with me a bible passage that’s still one of my favorite to this day. It’s Matthew 6:33-34.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”