C4C Prayer Peaks Day 2012

We had a great time at the Prayer Peaks Day event this past Saturday that Rachel and I put on locally for Climbing for Christ.  Typically with PPD, climbers climb a local mountain and pray over the area they live in.  It started out with climbing fourteeners, peaks above 14,000 in elevation, but has since transitioned into much more.  Now, people climb whatever is nearby.  Some still climb fourteeners, others climb mountains overlooking their town.  I've even heard of folks in Florida climbing the stairwells of the tallest building in their city to pray over it.

This year in Durango, we had to be a bit flexible.  Going in, we didn't know if we would have to move the hike of Hogsback Mountain due to fires in the area.  The day after announcing the hike, a fire erupted a mile or so from the mountain we were going to hike.  That left the hike in limbo.  By the time of the hike, they had that fire mostly under control.  There were still fires a bit to the west, though, which is where winds were forecast to come out of.

The morning of the hike, we arrived at the trailhead to fairly good conditions.  There was only a hint of smoke in the air.  We began our hike of Hogsback only to have to stop due to some feet that had been blistered on a hike earlier in the week.  We decided that the blisters would only get worse and cause more pain with the steeps that lay before us.  With that and the possibility of heavy smoke forecasted to head our way along with some high heat, we decided that a hike just outside of town would have to be put on hold for a different day.  

Instead, we headed up to the campus chapel of Fort Lewis College which is on a mesa top overlooking the town of Durango.  The FLC Chapel is right on the edge of the mesa and had a nice shaded area with benches so that we could worship and pray without overheating.  Arriving there, we could see the smoke plume heading toward town.  The smoke smell was getting stronger.  It was a good reminder to pray for rain and for the firefighters out fighting all the fires outside of town.  After praying for a multitude of prayer requests and needs, we were able to worship overlooking the town.  It was a pretty amazing time.

We finished up the event with a visit to Dairy Queen to cool off from the rising temperatures.  This is becoming tradition, I think, for Prayer Peaks Day in Durango.  It's just too hot this time of year not to eat ice cream as much as possible.  What a great way to finish up an event!

Looking back on the day, it was truly a blessing to be able to pray and worship over a town that has so much need.  Though the Prayer Peaks Day is only one day out of the year, the prayers over the town will continue.  The worship will continue as well because our God meets the needs of those who pray and call out to Him and that is worth praising and celebrating.