The trail to see Panther Creek Falls is a 3.5 mile hike to the base of the falls. The first mile is a little uphill and downhill, but really not bad. The next 2 miles are mostly flat as the trail winds its way next to the creek. The last .5 mile is similar to the first mile, however, when you reach the crest of the falls and begin to hike down to the base, the last 100 feet is quite challenging. The trail leads you on the side of a ridge and you are basically walking on rock and if the rock is wet, it can be rather slippery. The trail does have poles and cabling to serve as hand rails for safety, but some of the poles have broken free from their foundation in the side of the ridge and dangle in the air. If you miss your step and begin to slide, you could reach the bottom in a hurry, with some discomfort. If you are able to get up, remember, its 3.5 miles back to the car. So you have to be careful!
There are so many amazing things to help us remember our journey and our quality time together as a family on a beautiful Saturday. The trip to Longhorn afterwards was quite rewarding. After you have hiked 7 miles and have only eaten granola bars and some beef jerky, you can get quite hungry for a juicy steak. The scenery of the creek and the forest was peaceful and beautiful. It really drew us away from the busy city and traffic filled life we endure every day. But there were a couple of things about our journey that God used to reveal Himself to me in a mighty way. These things gripped my heart and demonstrated to me how much I am blessed and that His strong and mighty hand is holding mine on this journey called life.
I can’t say enough about my lovely wife, Christine, who is 7 months pregnant. She was very excited to go on this hike and was not going to let the fact of being pregnant prevent her from enjoying time outdoors with her family. That’s right, she hiked 7 miles while 7 months pregnant! I was so proud hiking on the trail as we passed numerous hikers who were amazed that she would even attempt such an adventure. Several were impressed; some said she was crazy. We have all heard the figure of speech that says, “Women are to be barefoot and pregnant.” Not my wife! Christine was quite comfortable in her hiking shirt, shoes, and skirt.
The perseverance she demonstrated was humbling to me. I know that there were parts of the trail on our way out that had me winded, but I tried not to show it. Of course, we paced ourselves which helped prevent her from overdoing it. On this journey God showed me how strong and unselfish my wife is. Not very many would even attempt to hike the 7 miles, let alone while pregnant. Christine is a strong woman and relies on Jesus to help her overcome whatever she is facing. She is unselfish and she does not let her circumstances prevent her from an opportunity to spend time with her family. She makes me so happy and I know that whatever we may face together, she (through Christ) possesses the strength and endurance to persevere to the end. I have a blessed marriage.
There was another member of our family on this journey. Christine and I were both very impressed with how well Alicia did on the hike. As I have reflected back on the hike and allowed God to teach me some spiritual lessons, He has really spoken to me on the relationship between a father and a child. I had done some research about the trail before we went on the hike. Throughout the whole journey to the falls and back, Alicia would ask me several times, “which way do we go?”, “how much further?”, “are we almost there?” She asked because she knew that her father had more knowledge about the journey than she did. The path had some parts that were uphill and some were downhill, but also a good portion of it was flat. This is also true of the journeys our Heavenly Father may lead us to endure. So it would only be reasonable that we ask for His guidance and direction on our journey. As we were getting closer to the falls, Alicia’s excitement began to build. She would repeat, “We are almost there. I can hear the falls. We are almost there.”
We made it to the crest of the falls, but this was not our end destination. We now had to descend to the base of the falls where we could rest, eat a snack, and enjoy the beauty and roar of the falls. We had been warned by others who were coming back from the falls that the last 100 ft. was the most difficult on the trail and to be careful as we made our way down. So we felt we were prepared. As we started our descent we came to a section of the trail that made us feel that we were walking on the side of a cliff. We were about 20 ft up on a slope. We were almost there, but we still faced the most difficult part of the journey. We still had one section where we had to walk on sloping rock that was a little damp and slippery.
Alicia being the adventurer she is, decided to step out in faith and go first. She made one very crucial and important decision before she proceeded; she grabbed her father’s hand. Two steps on the sloping rock and her feet slipped and she began sliding down the hill. The next thing we know she was dangling in mid air, but she was safe because I had hold of her hand. Although Alicia’s feet were not far from touching the ground, her momentum from sliding would have caused her to continue down the slope all the way to the bottom for a nasty fall. In one motion, I lifted her up and over so she could set her feet on solid level ground. Christine and I were able to make it with no issues and once across to more stable ground, we checked to make sure that Alicia was okay. She did have a scrape on her leg, which was nothing compared to what might have happened had she not had hold of my hand. The interesting thing was that I was extremely calm during the whole event. I am sure that Alicia’s heart was beating out of our chest, but she did not scream or cry. We proceeded down to the bottom of the hill, sat down on some big rocks, and began eating our snacks.
After about 30-45min of rest, we decided to make our way back 3.5 miles. The part of the trail that was so challenging coming down was much easier going back up. We made it up to the crest of the falls and there was a path that led us out onto the rocks near the creek. This was pretty fun and allowed us to get really close to the rushing water. One section had two fallen trees lying across the creek. These logs were suspended above the creek about 10 ft. I was feeling adventurous and decided to climb out on one of the logs to get a picture. Not to my surprise, Alicia wanted to come out on the log with me as well. Christine was visibly nervous for both of us. After we climbed back safely to the rocks, Alicia said, “That was scary, but not nearly as scary as when I slipped and almost fell.”
I was so encouraged by Alicia’s faith to continue to overcome fear. We have done many things together but this was the first adventure where she faced danger and I had to be there for her. The Lord used me to lift her to safety and I will never forget that. There never was a time where I had to carry Alicia, but if she had really hurt herself by falling, I am certain that I would have carried her all the way back. Alicia means so much to me and I, like most dads, believe that she is a daddy’s girl.
The journey back was less adventurous. The last half mile seemed to take forever and it felt like the path was all uphill. However, we still enjoyed ourselves and were excited when we could hear the cars from the highway because we knew we were almost done. There is so much God has taught me through our journey. As a family, we will probably have many hikes together, but this one will probably be remembered more because of Christine’s perseverance while pregnant and a rather scary moment for Alicia where things could have really turned out badly, but God was with us and everyone was safe. It was great! Such is life.
If we look back over our past journeys that God has led us on, there are a few that have those tense moments where we felt that things were going to turn out badly. There are those points along the journey where we are almost to our destination, but we still have to overcome the most difficult part to reach where our Heavenly Father wants us to go. There are journeys we have to forget about our obstacles and circumstances while persevering with the Lord’s strength. Those are the journeys we reflect on the most.
During our journey, we may not know which path to take, how far we have to go, or what parts of the journey are flat and what parts are uphill, but our Heavenly Father does. When we talk to him along the way, it makes our fellowship much sweeter and our journey much more enjoyable. As long as we are in our Father’s presence and within the sound of His voice, there are parts along the journey where he allows us to walk on our own. However, there are also times where we may need to be carried and He definitely possesses the strength to carry us.
If we are to experience the best, we must proceed with perseverance and faith while holding on to our Heavenly Father’s hand. Challenges we face can be so treacherous and if we go for them alone, we risk getting hurt badly. Although we may hold the Father’s hand, we still may experience a few minor scrapes or cuts as we travel through some difficult situations. It is still a risk, but He will always save us if we slip and fall. When we are dangling in mid air, He will gently lift us up and place our feet on solid ground.
I am not sure if I initiated holding Alicia’s hand, or if she initiated holding mine. It may have just been father-daughter intuition due to a close trusting relationship. She could have said, “No Daddy, I can do it!” That would have proven costly not only for her, but also for me as her father. No one likes to see their child fall or get hurt and it’s the same way with our Heavenly Father. If we will just hold on to His mighty hand through whatever struggles we are facing, He will keep us safe from harm throughout our journey.
Each journey we complete builds our faith and we can hardly wait to see where our Heavenly Father is going to lead us next. Once we sat down to eat at Longhorns, I asked Alicia and Christine, if they would like to come back and do this hike again. Both of them said yes. Of course, Christine would like to wait a few months.
