Sonrise Magazine

Headed in the Cascades to hike, Tom calls on the Good Shepherd and finds an ironic answer to his prayer

by Tom Giesecke

The nearest mountain pass to my home is Stevens Pass in the North Cascades.  It tops out at 4000 feet.  Just six miles east of the high point, which separates eastern from western Washington, is a majestic peak named Rock Mountain. There are trails to its 6854 feet summit from both the south and the north.  The southern trail begins just off the highway and switches back and forth as one ascends the steep slope of the mountain.  There are astounding views along almost all of this route.  The trail passes by the beautiful cirque of Rock Lake before leading up to the summit ridge.

The northern trail begins after driving 8.5 miles from the highway on unpaved rough overgrown mountain roads.  One cool and cloudy fall day I drove my aging Honda Civic 5 speed stick shift sedan up to that northern trailhead.  My car was the only one there in this remote spot when I parked it at about 9 AM.  I had walked about a hundred feet up the trail when I looked back and saw I’d left the car lights on.  I immediately rushed back and shut them off. I then ascended the trail along Snowy Creek and through damp meadows into the clouds and up to the summit ridge.  I walked up to the summit which was shrouded in clouds so I didn’t have any mountain views.  Undeterred and enjoying the solitude, I hiked down the north side a mile or so to the lake.  There was some territorial cloud clearing there and I relaxed sitting on the lakeshore and reading as I enjoyed my lunch.  Despite the clouds and in my solitude, I felt completely secure in the presence of God in His amazing creation.

It was approaching dusk when I arrived back at my car at about 5 PM.  It was still the only vehicle in sight.  When I turned the key in the ignition, the starter didn’t crank at all.  I knew I had a dead battery.  Despite my dilemma, I felt amazingly secure.  I recalled seeing a wooden box-like trailer pulled off the road about a half mile up the hill as I had driven down it that morning.   I then walked up to see what it was.

There was no one there when I approached this strange and shut up wooden trailer.  I peered over into the forest and saw a flock of sheep feeding there.  Suddenly a man appeared seemingly out of nowhere.  He sounded friendly but spoke almost only Spanish. (I later surmised that he was a Basque shepherd.)   My Spanish was limited to what little I’d retained from three years in junior high about 40 years earlier.

He told me he had just that day seen a bear that had threatened his sheep. However, he understood my dilemma after I managed to explain my stalled car problem to him. He was immediately willing to come and help me.  He readily left his sheep on the mountainside and walked down the road with me to my car. 

When we got to my car, I got in and turned the key to on.  I put it in first and depressed the clutch while he pushed my car.  When I popped the clutch, the engine caught and the car lurched forward.  I was very grateful to him, repeating “Muchas gracias, Senor,” as we rode back up to his trailer.  When we arrived, his sheep had scattered across the mountain road.  He just made some quiet clucking sounds and they readily rejoined him as he led them back to the pastures in the forest on the other side.

As I later considered my situation of being marooned alone with my car not starting, I became cognizant that my location at that time of falling darkness had left me in a precarious position.  If I had had to walk out to the highway and try to hitch a ride, I might not have gotten one.  It was possible I could literally have perished due to hypothermia that night without that shepherd’s help.

When I remember how this shepherd helped me so willingly in my time of need in a remote place, I am deeply moved at how steadfast is the love of my Shepherd Jesus Christ.  His steadfast love lasts like a rock.  This lasting attribute of God gives me and everyone who trusts in Christ absolute security.

Jesus Christ is the Lord who is my Shepherd.  He is the Good Shepherd.  He made this parable real for me that evening. He said:

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.  So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:12-14).