Sunday, July 11, 2010

San Jacinto


On Saturday I climbed the last of the "Three Saints" - the three highest peaks in the mountain ranges of Southern California. Back in September of '08 I climbed Mt. San Antonio (Old Baldy), and in September of '09 I climbed Mt. San Gorgonio. San Jacinto Peak at 10,834 feet was the last of the three for me. I went with a fellow parishioner from Christ's Church - Anglican, with whom I've hiked before. The climb was an easy ascent of about 2300 ft over about five and a half miles.

A grassy meadow in the San Jacinto Mountains.


This hut was built near the summit in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Inside are emergency supplies and journals that have been written in by climbers.

Summit of San Jacinto Peak

The Summit Marker


4 comments:

Ed said...

Hey Matt,

I have a doctoring question for you. I'd have sent this to you by email, but I'm not sure I have your email anymore.

Joel Osteen makes some interesting observations about pig meat here: http://frmilovan.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/joel-osteen-on-pork/#comments.

Aside from any theological problems his teaching might have, what are the scientific facts about pork? Is he right about pigs having a poor digestive system, etc.?

Matt said...

Hey Ed,
All I have to say is, "What God has made clean, do not call common" (Acts 10:15). And "Thus he [Jesus] declared all foods clean" (Mark 7:19). It always amazes me when I see Christians or in this case, perhaps a deceiver, trying to put themselves back under the Law in opposition to Romans 6:14, Galatians 5:18, et al. When it comes to the functioning of the porcine digestive system I have to plead ignorance. Pork is known for harboring trichinella, a parasitic worm which can take up residence in muscles or the central nervous system, but this problem is easily remedied by cooking properly. As for toxins in pork, obviously it depends on what they're fed. The higher up you go on the food chain the higher risk there is for the build-up of toxins, an example of which would be the mercury content of certain species of fish which I think would be considered clean by OT food laws.

I think I'll stick with what Jesus says I can eat instead of Joel Osteen.

Ed said...

Yeah, I had thought of that (regarding the "what they are fed" bit). I wonder why Osteen would ever want to go back to those aspects of the dietary laws, anyway?

I think I detected a certain trendy "health food" feel about his presentation.

Also, did you see how many PEOPLE he had there? That's astounding.

Anonymous said...

Matt,
Congrats on attaining that goal of climbing all three of these mountains! I'm so happy that you got the chance to do this and to take advantage of your break. Furthermore, thank you for sharing these neat pictures...looks like a beautiful place!
~A.J.