The Mayer Family

Yesterday, my friend Miguel invited me to come along with him to go up into the mountains and do some hiking. We got up early and drove up into the Sierra Nevada mountain range which is about a 45 minute drive. We then hiked about 4-5 miles and about 2500 feet up to the top of the second highest mountain peak in all of Spain. The hike was very tough (especially since we both are a bit out of shape), at places the trail was really steep, and with less air (oxygen) to breathe because of the high altitude, we had to take several breaks. However, the rush of finally making it to the top of the mountain was exhilarating! As we were standing there recovering from the long climb and enjoying the incredible views, I couldn’t help but think about heaven. I love how Randy Alcorn talks in his books about heaven and that the best things in life that we see and experience give us glimpses and glimmers of what heaven will be like. For me, this was a “mountain top” experience (no pun intended…well, sort of) and gave me a little glimpse of heaven. Won’t it be incredible to climb up to the “New Earth” mountain tops someday with Jesus and enjoy with Him the incredible views that He created.

Starting off…

Outdoor “cathedral” for mass. Notice the top peak just to the left of the altar…that’s where we are headed. The name of this mountain peak is called Veleta, which is around 11,300 feet above sea level.

Mountain goats

Heading to the peak

Almost to the top

We did it!!!

Looking Northwest—Granada is way down at the bottom of the mountains

Looking East—the highest peak is Mulhacen which is the highest peak in Spain at around 11,400 feet—about 100 feet higher than we were standing on Veleta.

Looking South—notice the Mediterranean Sea. We were hoping to see over into Morocco. But, unfortunately even though the morning sky was remarkably clear, we could not see over to the North African coast.

Heading back down

Ironically we saw a rock formation of Spain’s national symbol, the bull

An old, abandoned observatory

Needless to say, today I’m paying for it. I’m sore in places that I didn’t even know I had muscles…but it was definitely worth it! Our hike took Miguel and me a little over four hours. We had some great talks together and I hope we have many more opportunities to go hiking together again.
-Kevin