Red Ribbons

after a brief interlude we return to the mountains! The great teachers of my life, I honestly have learned more lessons wandering in the wilderness of the Rocky mountains than any other place on earth (thus far anyway, still lots of time for that to change) This particular time I was not in a large group of family and friends, but rather it was my Father and I! we were hiking a trail in preparation for a scout jamboree of sorts. it was an fun hike however one with a very important lesson learned!

as I remember it was a long drive to the trail head on a sketchy, bumpy, rutty, dirt road (if those vibration training machines really do work I must have lost 15lbs) finally we arrived at the trail head, a little disoriented from the effects of the whiplash but in fair health! and we started up the trail, the first part of the hike went without note worthy incident! just headed up as on any other mountain. there was shale and other obstacles to be expected while hiking the Rockies but nothing overly unusual, it was not until we got up onto the ridge walk that things went array! the ridge walk is where the trail kind of disappears into a scramble, the trail was only marked by these red ribbons, (those who know me know where this is going, the rest of you will have to wait in suspense to learn what is going on) and cairns (man made piles of stone to mark the trail) we followed from cairn to cairn and made fairly good time, UNTIL we went down this one saddle (so named because the curve of the mountain ridge looks like the seat of a saddle, it seems logical) and we hit the tree line.... all of a sudden the cairns stopped and we had to rely on red ribbons and orange spray paint on the trees. this is not good news! why? I am orange green colour blind, orange paint and red ribbons on green trees for me is like trying to spot a camouflaged sniper from 100K, it doesn't matter how hard I look it is still going to be invisible! good thing I had dad with me......... well it
would be if he knew where he was going..... so we are sitting at this tree line trying to figure out which way takes us in the right direction, I am useless in this effort, I won't be able to find the trail with the markers used and it is my first time up this particular peak, so........ yup! well we (and by we I mean I) made our decision to go right (after all "choose the right when a choice is placed before you" (hymn # 239)) and we headed into the brush...... it wasn't long before we realized we went the wrong way..... but it was long enough we could not turn back! so now what? bush whack up toward where the trail should be! it was still early "summer" and so there was plenty of slippery, slushy snow banks to walk on, making the journey slow and hard! trying to find the spots that you wouldn't slip and fall into the snow as deep as your hips! (IN JULY!!!!!!!! welcome to my home and native land, Canada!) this wasn't to bad for me.... but for my 60+ Father with heart problems, we will just say we took it slowly! (I took first aid and all.... but I didn't have any plans on trying to fix my dad!) after a couple hours of bush whacking and snow shoeing we had the bright idea to stop and say a prayer (took us long enough) we decided to try a different direction and within 5 minutes we found the trail...... however it was still red ribbons!!!! so I gave dad point (not my favourite thing to do... I like being in front on the mountains) and after a long day of hiking, getting lost, having hail on us, a crazy mountain grouse that wouldn't let us pass and then..... getting lost again we found our way out! when we came back a week later with all the other scouts to hike the same trail, we saw where we had gone wrong and what a difficult clime we really did have to make, we were grateful that this time we were able to help others along the path and stick to the right path so that they didn't have to go through the same frustrations we did the first time!

so what lesson did I learn? to pray.... yes that was a lesson I learned however that was nothing new I have learned that lesson over and over! what lesson stood out that day? in 2 Nephi 31:3 we learn that the Lord will give us light and understanding in our own individual ways! that He knows us individually and will help us in the way that works best for us individually! We will be taught by the spirit in a way that makes sense to us as individuals! Orange paint and red ribbons may not work for
me, if I am left alone to it I would without doubt get lost, however I was given a guide, My dad, to help me get to the next point when I couldn't do it myself anymore! My mountain analogies may not be helpful to you however you have similar experiences that have taught you the same lessons! that day I learned that there is a God, and He KNOWS me, He knows how to guide me, He knows how to teach me! He helps me through this life through different experiences and lessons than he will for anyone else because he made me different than anyone else, same goes for you the reader! however when others can't quite see the next ribbon we can be the guide that helps them get through the brush safely! often times we are the tools the lord will use to bless the lives of his children and answer their prayers!

WMI? GOD KNOWS YOU PERSONALLY AND INDIVIDUALLY!!