around Mt. Rainier. He said he'd take us if we did all of the planning. So we planned the whole thing and he and one of the other boys dads took us on the trip. I was 15 at the time, and lived for this kind of stuff. The weather was perfect, kind of a chancy proposition up on the side of Rainier, but we lucked out.

We were on the trail the second day and got up to one of the highest points of the trail. I looked across a very wide canyon and was in awe at the sight. As a teenager it was the strongest spiritual feeling I had ever had simply by being in a beautiful place outdoors. I never forgot what the spot looked like and how it made me feel closer to heaven.

Now, fast forward 30 years and our youngest son's church troop decides to do the Wonderland Trail with no input from me. I decided to join them for 3 days of the trip. I know our 3 boys all love the outdoors -- we tried to get all of our kids to love the outdoors and all of God's creations. But Daniel was a little more sensitive to those types of feelings than the others.

On the second day of the trip with my son and his troop we got to this one spot on the trail and my son stopped and looked across this vast canyon and said something like - "this is incredible!" I realized that it was the same spot that I had felt the same feeling 30 years earlier. It gave me a lump in my throat looking over that exact same spot and seeing that my son had stopped and felt the same feelings that I felt 30 years earlier. We stood their and talked about the spirituality that can come from observing great things in nature. A few of the other boys were around us and agreed.

From what I could see the second time around, that spot was just as splendid and beautiful with the same feelings that I had sensed when I was there as a 15 yo. Now I'm in my 60's and would like to do it again!