Photo ©2003 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, October 5, 2026
(From Maylan: Welcome back to Chuck Davis! As you’ll read below, Chuck took a break from doing our Monday Photo Parables, but now he’s returned!)
In my last post, I told you I was “Taking a Break.” I had hoped to hike 966 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Siskiyou Summit in southern Oregon to Lone Pine, California with my brother Buzz. That goal turned out to be too ambitious for two men whose hearts and minds were willing, but whose bodies did not agree.
By the third day, Buzz’s left knee was complaining, especially on the downhill stretches. Our speed dropped from 2-1/2 miles per hour to around a mile per hour. The trail from Callahan’s Lodge to Seiad Valley was in rough shape having sustained wildfires over the past few seasons. Miles of the trail were barely visible due to burned trees that had fallen and the chapparal that had overgrown the trail.
On our last day, we were about 5 miles from Seiad Valley, when a pinched nerve in my lower back caused my left leg to lose all control and I fell off the trail on a steep slope. I tumbled heels over head about three times before I was able to stop. After crawling back to the trail, we continued – finally making it to our planned destination in Seiad Valley.
The following day, I was barely able to walk. With Buzz’s knee and my level of low-back pain, we made the decision to leave the trail.
Today’s photo, captured in 2003 along the PCT near Glacier Peak recalls this verse:
Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep. (Psalm 36:5–6, KJV).