Monte Vista Peak in the Snow

Nothing focuses the mind and makes one feel alive quite like a little danger and putting oneself out there. Thus was my seven mile unaccompanied roundtrip hike up to the Monte Vista lookout. That this was a new hike, with over 2,700 feet of elevation gain, through three-plus inches of new and slippery snow, in the middle of nowhere, and without a hiking buddy made this a bit of an adventure and maybe a little bit dumb. I’m glad I was by myself, however, as the quiet and solitude were invigorating and cathartic. God, how can anyone believe in any Diety or ancient superstition when Mother Nature provides all the succor we need?

Monte Vista Peak (on the left, in the middle, or on the right).

The Chiricahuas.

The Chiricahuas.

The "Shrine"

Hiked up to the iconic Bisbee Shrine today. There's so much religious and quasi-religious detritus littering the hilltop in memoriam, I had to make a collage of it all. Sheesh, humans. Mother nature is a much better decorator. I have half a mind to climb up there with a sandblaster and erase the whole thing.

Most of the graffiti is Christian, but there is a little bit of new-age Buddhism as well.

So much vandalism I had to make a collage of it all.

Mt. Ballard

Mount Fissure as seen from Mount Ballard.

Nice quick trip up Mount Ballard this morning, and I do mean up. This short 1.6 mile hike up is relentlessly ascendant, as you can see. The 1.6 mile return trip gives the lungs a break at the expense of the leg joints.

Mexico.

Looking down on Bisbee.

Why do certain Christians think the rest of us want to see their proselytizing detritus on the top of every damned mountain?

1 Kings 18:37-38King James Version (KJV)

37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. [Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean, taken out of context and all.]