Retezat.

We just returned from a week of backpacking in the Retezat.  It was phenomenal.  I love the mountains; I love backpacking; I love feeling my muscles strain as I lug a bag containing everything I need to survive up and down mountains.  I loved it.  I met God in the mountains (I think one always does.  I was constantly reminded of Mount Sinai, as clouds would skim across the peaks, hovering over the mountaintops...)  But rather than try to explain the glory we saw and experienced in the Retezat, here are some pictures and the quote we were given to meditate on all week.  I hope it can give you a glimpse into what I've been learning this past week... and maybe challenge you as well.

 We find by losing

and we hold fast by letting go

We become something new

by ceasing to be something old

I begin to know that I do not need to know

and that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing.

God knows

and that is all that matters.

[Frederick Buechner]

I owe the foot picture to Corrie...

Bucara.

Mountains are steep.

The lake where we ate lunch before we climbed to the summit.

The trail up to the summit.  Um... yeah.  There was a bit of fog.  (And yes, that's a cliff.)