Yosemite Summit 2012 is now full. That doesn’t mean an opening couldn’t open up, occasionally things happen where an attendee can’t come and cancels in the last month – so if you would like to come, I would still recommend you make a deposit and register so that if an opening is freed up last minute due to any changes, you can in “in line” to attend. See complete Waiting List details.

But as of now, Yosemite Summit 2012 is already fully booked!

Looking forward to what God has in store for the guys He has brought together for this unique year. I’m taking a smaller group for this 5th year – no massive van, a new cabin, and some new ideas He has impressed upon me. It will be especially fresh for two repeat guys who are coming back.

Appreciate your  prayer for this event in the coming months.

Only a few will enjoy the vast views of Yosemite.

Only a few will be shown how to discover the quiet trails.

Only a few will be a part of Yosemite Summit 2012.

I introduced my son to Yosemite this summer

Registration is OPEN for Yosemite Summit 2012, but if you are observant, you will notice – I have not posted this year now many may attend. As I am praying about closing it early this year and taking a smaller more intimate group for this fifth Summit. So I will be closing registration once God tells me “that’s enough.” I’ve booked a smaller lodge and I may only rent an SUV instead of the usual 15 passenger van… and lowered the price… all that to say… you shouldn’t procrastinate if you have been putting this off for years.

AND I have opened it to ANY men in full time ministry, not just children’s pastors.

So curious who God will bring for a week of renewal
and spiritual healing in May 2012.

Yosemite Escape

It’s official… I have booked the Lodge for 2012, and just for fun and variety, I have booked a new one for the 5th Summit. There will be some thoughtful changes in 2012. Registration will open very soon. First of all, it will be open to any men in ministry, Secondly, it will be a smaller more intimate group. Thirdly, the smaller group means the cost drops as well. If you haven’t seen it, check out the 2011 Report.

Yosemite Summit 2012

May 20-24, 2012 – Sunday to Thursday
(Travel days Saturday & Friday before and after)

The rest of the website has NOT been updated yet. This is just an announcement on the dates for next year and that there WILL BE a Yosemite Summit 2012. Stay Tuned and start to pray about whether YOU will be one of the guys God is calling to join me next year.

• Built In Pit Stop
• Someday is Another Word for Never
• Is This Your Letter?
• The Best Thing for Your Ministry

Others have written as well about why they went to Yosemite Summit. I’ll link those another time perhaps, but you can just click through the archives. But the reality is, my life is BUSY. Don’t get me wrong – I’m doing things I love pursuing my life Mission, but if I didn’t schedule Yosemite Summit, I’d never STOP and GET AWAY and enjoy time with some guys who love God like me and just UNPLUG and enjoy nature and fellowship like you just can’t get in the hectic pace of normal life. I’m never “ready” for Yosemite Summit – it just comes, and I have to just GO. And when I get back, I have to dive in and pick up where I left off and getting this report done and a highlight video done can be a real challenge with Kidology.org to run, DiscipleTown to write and other responsibilities all while keeping my family first. (And some new and exciting things in development!)

It’s truly a gift I give myself every year that I plan to give myself for the rest of my life. AND a gift I am excited to ANNOUNCE that I am going to extend starting in 2012 to ANY MAN IN MINISTRY. No longer will Yosemite Summit be limited to children’s pastors. God has laid it on my heart that I shouldn’t be limiting this event to children’s pastors. I will explain this in more detail in a future post when registration opens and how the application process will work. But I have heard and listened and responded and God has answered your prayers, guys! On to the report.

Yosemite Summit 2011

This was the fourth Summit – and since 4 has been my favorite number since I was a kid, I anticipated it being my favorite Summit so far. I also had the advantage of three past Summits under my belt, so I am able to enjoy them even more now as I am less figuring them out and more just repeating what I’ve done in the past, though every year is unique and has aspects that make it special. This year was no exception. I especially enjoyed that this year we didn’t have to alter plans at all due to weather, which was a treat.

The newest thing this year was I made a photo journal for the guys for them to use throughout the week with color photos from past years, space to journal in and scripture to read and reflect on according to the theme of the day. Our reflective theme this year was P.A.T.H. which provided our focus for each day:

P = Peace

A = Abiding

T = Thankfulness

H = Holiness

We had a wonderful time hiking, enjoying fellowship with each other, and spending some quality time with God, the Creator of this incredible place. If you have never been to Yosemite National Park – you are truly robbing yourself of one of America’s hidden treasures. It remained hidden from the “white man” long after San Fransisco had been founded and the Ahwahnee Indians managed to divert (or at times kill) travelers over the Sierra Nevada mountains away from this this incredible valley in order to keep it a secret. It was not until the time of President Abraham Lincoln that it was finally discovered, and while Yellowstone was the first “official” National Park, Yosemite was the first land protected by a President when Abe himself declared it protected land for the people forever!

Millions travel from all over the world to behold the wonders of this relatively small valley (only seven miles in length) but only mere thousands experience the hikes that take visitors to the truly beautiful locations hidden in this gordeous place, and only Yosemite Summiteers (who stick with me on the hikes) get to see the truly hidden wonders of this magnificent park. I know the trails that many neglect and that the masses miss, and the hidden spots off the trails where one can find solitude and solace and spectacular views of God’s Creation. (I took my family to Yosemite in July and enjoyed showing my son some of “Daddy’s Spots” and Luke created a few spots of his own that we will visit again in future years!)

In case you are wondering what can be experienced on Yosemite Summit, instead of a long detailed report, as I have done in 2008, and 2009, and 2010. This year, I offer simply one word summaries of what can be experienced at Yosemite Summit and suggest if you are not one of the eight men who join me. You are truly missing out. I have no need to twist your arm. Those who join me, are the lucky ones. I already have next year almost full from the e-mails I have been getting already. So if you want to join me, you’d better sign up as soon as registration opens. It’s THAT good. I expect a waiting list in 2012. It can change your life.

Yosemite 2011: In photos and one word summaries: (Don’t Miss the Video at the End!)

ACCOMPLISHMENT

AMAZING

AWE

BEARS

BEAUTY

BRIDGES

CONTEMPLATION

DEEP THINKING

FELLOWSHIP

FUN!

JOURNEY

PEACEFUL

POWER

REFRESHING

RESTFUL

UNINTERUPTED

WONDER

WORSHIP

Do these images whet you appetite for Yosemite Summit? It is truly an event that is difficult to describe, even with words or images – or even with video, but I’ll try yet again…

HIGHLIGHT VIDEO:

If you have any questions about Yosemite Summit, I invite you to ask in this thread in my forum on Kidology.org, and I’ll be happy to answer. Basic Registration on Kidology.org is free to participate, however, Premium Membership to Kidology is required to attend the Summit.

Maybe YOU will be one of us next year?

Vernal Falls from Panorama Trail (Click to View Larger)

This is the second time I have been in Yosemite National Park when people have died on the Mist Trail. This past week, I have received so many e-mails and calls from concerned family and friends who heard about there being three deaths in Yosemite, since my family of three was there. I appreciated the concern, but we were safe. I wanted to answer, “We obey the rules.” Not to be trite or insensitive, but because when these tragedies occur they often unfairly cause people to see Yosemite as an unsafe place, when it isn’t. What it is, is a place that must be respected.

Now I must pause, and say something else – I am deeply saddened by these deaths. I grieve for the families, the loss of life – and hurt for those who are hurting right now. I have lost sleep over this. I know the place where this happened VERY well, so my dreams are vivid and I can picture the entire scene all too well. I am also angry with the heartless and cruel comments I am reading on many blogs and Yosemite websites that are downright mean – these people died as a result of foolish choices, yes, but not because of stupidity, and they did not “have it coming” nor do they deserve Darwin awards and the like. We all have made foolish and careless decisions in our lives – most behind the wheel of our cars – most do not cost us our life. So while this was a tragedy, it was not an accident. And while it was completely avoidable, sympathy for both the victims and those who loved them is in order, just as we’d want if someone we loved did something foolish and paid so dearly for it.

Nevertheless, there is a lesson for us all, in this. I’m not going to go into details of the events that occurred, other than are necessary for my point in posting about it. There are conflicting reports online – some sites have event edited there earlier reports, in part for accuracy, in part to spin it more kindly toward the victims as time goes by, which is understandable. The initial reports, I believe, were probably the most accurate in this case, though that isn’t always the case, since they were eye witnesses, I tend to believe the longer eye witness reports I read, though most of the reports have been shortened now.

Me on the Final Climb to the Top of Vernal Falls

To give you an idea of the environment – people have asked about the guard rail, here is what the setting looks like. They went over the guard rail 25 feet up from the ledge. It can be deceptively calm and there can be solid dry rock over the rail and the water can look calm. But the flow on the surface can be deceiving. And the depth can drop quickly as you move out. This picture was taken with a zoom lens from Clarks Point, which is pretty far away, but up and across from Vernal Fall:

Here is the entire fall, zoomed back:

As you can see, it is not a fall you should be anywhere near the water. It is a fall that deserved fear in the biblical sense as well as literal. Here is what is important – those who perished, especially the first two, crossed a guard rail at the top of a very high and dangerous fall that was clearly marked so:

The Sign at Top of Vernal Falls (I took this)

TEXT ON SIGN: (or click to read)

Watch your step near the water.
The rocks are deceptively slippery.

Stay out of the water upstream from the falls.

If you lose your footing, powerful currents
will carry you over the falls.
There’s no second chance.

They ignored this sign, and then waded out into the water (repeatedly actually) ignoring the cries of other hikers to come back in order to get a picture, one slipped, then the next fell trying to help the first, and they fell in together. The third entered when trying to assist the first two. The rest is sad history. I won’t go into other details, you can use Google if you want to. They are tough details to read. I want to be sensitive my readers.

Vernal and Nevada Falls at Beginning of Panorama Trail

Everyone at Yosemite wants a great picture, but there are plenty of great pictures to get without risking your life. In pictures like this one above taken on Yosemite Summit – we enjoy taking pictures that “look” dangerous, when in fact, there was a meadow behind this boulder that slowly cascaded down the hill – though the picture looks like I am on top of a rock at the edge of a cliff! There are others as well, more humorous, but due to the sadness of this event, I won’t post them here. (Vernal Fall is the lower fall to the left of me.)

In the 600+ page “Off the Wall: Death in Yosemite,” which I have read to be prepared to keep my Yosemite Summit guys safe, most deaths are climbing related (we don’t climb), and of the rest nearly all of them are completely the result of carelessness on the part of the person who died or someone with them. So in answer to the question, “Why do you do a retreat in Yosemite when people die there?” My answer is, people don’t die there unless they make foolish choices – we won’t. You are probably safer in Yosemite than you are driving home from work. I tell the guys in our orientation, quite seriously, people do die in Yosemite every year. You have to take that seriously. BUT you can simply choose you won’t be one of them.

• Over 4,000,000 people visit the park every year. Millions drive home alive. You’ll more likely win the lottery than die in Yosemite.
• Over 2,000 hike the Mist Trail DAILY, only a dozen or so have died sine 1948.

You do the math. You almost have to try to die. In other words, you have to do something foolish. Granted, you can’t avoid lightening (I know that!) but you can avoid most other things, if you are being wise and careful, and for the most part, sticking to the trail or to solid ground.

So, if you are considering coming to Yosemite Summit (or more likely, your husband is and you are concerned about his safety) please know, that Yosemite Summit is safe. We hike the trails, we use common sense, and we plan to come home to our wives and kids who we love very much. We all agree at the beginning that we will speak up if we see anyone doing anything we consider unsafe, and obey a request of another to not do anything anyone else feels is unsafe, even if we disagree. Our safety motto is WWWS, “What Would (my) Wife Say?” any time we are in doubt about climbing up or out on something for a picture. (It was WWSS the first year, “What Would Sara Say?”)

Yes, the deaths in Yosemite are tragic, and we grieve for the families and their loss. Our prayers go out to them. Reportedly, these three were Christians, that gives us extra hope. But their deaths do not make Yosemite unsafe – their deaths make foolish choices unsafe, wherever they are made, in Yosemite, in your work place, behind the wheel of your car. Life is precious and fragile.

Be careful, friends, people love you. See ya in Yosemite!

This isn’t the “Official” report – I have thousands of photos (and video clips) to sort through and a highlight video to create for that – BUT I wanted to at least let y’all know I made it back alive and we had another great UNconference in Yosemite National Park!

Despite some negative weather forecasts, we had actually perhaps the best weather of all four years – maybe tied with year #1, though that was a bit warm, so I think the best weather of all four years for hiking. That was fantastic!

Just for fun, Pat arrived a day early to help me shop for all the food. Here he is at Costco in Sacramento:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

And that is even before the Super Wal-Mart trip for the stuff Costco doesn’t sell! It takes a lot to feed a lodge full of hungry hikers! (And we eat well!)

Soon we were all gathered and ready to head to Yosemite… all but one Californian who was meeting up with us farther South.

Soon we were off! It was a great four hour drive getting to know each other, and the guys had absolute trust in my driving abilities and attention to all the laws of the road:

(For the record, I AM parked legally, but it’s a great picture snapped
by Scott Dodson before I knew why he asked me to look!)

If you are wondering if the trip was refreshing – this next picture is proof that it is… we DRINK UP YOSEMITE:

Michael Murphy drinking from Bridalveil Falls

This place is so in-tune with God, it seemed, even the animals were praising God:

Photo by Doug McKinney

I look forward to sharing more about this years Summit after I take some time to pray and reflect and journal and soak in the impact of this fourth time of turning off my busy electronic life for nearly a week and just enjoying some time in God’s Awesome Creation for a few days. Of course, everything back home piled up and now I have some catching up to do! To make matters worse, I got some really serious food poisoning on Sunday which put me on my deathbed all through the Memorial Day weekend so I feel even farther behind than I would have been with the long weekend to unpack and do some catching up before the work week got here – but such is life!

How are YOU like a Water Fall?

While you await the full report, I’ll share one insight with you that was actually shared during the week by one of the guys in our evenings of sharing after a day of hiking. Doug noted that in the path of our life there are a lot of obstacles and problems that get in our way and cause of frustration and disappointment and can irritate us or cause us to have to reroute our path or change our plans when we would rather things go smoothly. But as he was watching these majestic waterfalls come pouring over the cliffs and down the mountainsides and crashing along the river banks – it was actually the rocks and boulders and trees – the OBSTACLES in the waters path that make the waterfall and the river so majestic to watch. Were the waterfall and the path that followed at the bottom smooth it wouldn’t be as spectacular to view. It is actually the obstacles that give the falls and the rivers their character. Interesting – the flaws are what give the character. The same is true with is. Our character is developed through the obstacles in our lives. If God were to give us a smooth life, without problems, bumps and obstacles, what would grow our character?

So the next time you see a big boulder up ahead – instead of being frustrated or complaining – realize God is just forming you into a majestic testimony of his power and grace that other might be able to point to – even snap pictures of – and say, “Wow, there IS a Creator, and doesn’t He create the most Beautiful Things!”

We called this our “Album Cover”

NOTE: All images in this post can be clicked on to view larger.

Regular Size (918kb)
Larger Size (3.6mb)

I hope you’ll download a copy, print it out, and post it somewhere so you’ll be reminded to pray for each of us while we are on this UNconference in Yosemite from May 22 to May 26th. We will be completely UNPLUGGED from cell phones (other than a few calls to our wives), e-mail, facebook, Twitter, WORK (wahoo!) and anything that is usually a distraction from spending time focusing on our relationship with God and how we are dong as dads and husbands.

Rather than provide a list of prayer requests – safety is an obvious one – but I prefer to ask folks to pray as the spirit leads. In short – pray that it is a meaningful, impactful – and as my roommate used to say in college, a “spiritually prosperous” time.

Thanks!

This is one of my favorite pictures from Yosemite Summit. We were at the top of Nevada Falls overlooking a vast vista to the valley below as the sun was setting and marveling at how big our shadows were when i got the idea for this photo. The Three Musketeers! What was their motto? “All For One! And One for All!” Of course, they lived to protect the king – but we live to worship and serve the King of Kings!

Yosemite Summit is about spending some time just getting to enjoy some time in the Realm of the King enjoying the Fellowship of the King with some fellow knights! We still have a one opening left… let me share with you a comment just left on this website on another post:

Ahhhh, Yosemite Summit! Truthfully, I didn’t realize what I signed up for when I sent in my deposit a year ago. I was on the YS 2010 team. It was the greatest spiritual renewal event I have ever experienced. So many moments of that event truly helped transform me and my spiritual life. My life is not the same as it was before attending YS 2010. Let me tell you three things to encourage you to take that last spot:

1. Acceptance…the guys greeted me with open arms and warm hearts.

2. Honesty…be prepared to hear hearts open and be prepared to open your heart. (it is amazing how easy it was to open up in a room filled with new friends).

3. Theophany…YS 2010 was my burning bush experience. I heard God, I saw Him, I felt Him, I experienced God in a way I had never experienced HIM before. Expect to owe Karl a HUGE thank-you for the rest of your life. THANK YOU!

Duane

I have shared on this site in many places, and one on one with many guys how my life has been transformed dramatically in past five years, and how Yosemite Summit is a significant part of that change… and how there is really no way to explain the reasons – you just need to come.

There is one spot left. I invite you to take that step of faith, and join me and the other guys.

You’ll join Duane in being glad you did.

Karl.

Then today after only a few minutes he said, “Daddy, let me push you.” I was a little worried I’d clobber him on one of the return swings, but he did O.K. But then, after only a minute he got tired of pushing and said, “Why don’t you try pumping with your legs, Dad, I think you can probably do it on your own.” And walked away! Just like that! After all the visits to the park where I’d pushed him for loooong periods of time, never stopping until he was done, being such a patient and long suffering Dad, all he had for me was a minute!

I had to laugh to myself.

First, I had visions of when I was an older man might and need my son to push me around. But then I got to thinking of all the times God has been so long suffering and patient with me, and yet when it comes to giving HIM time – what do I do? A quick prayer at a meal? A zapped up prayer when I have a need? Maybe a prayer before a meeting or during a worship service? After all the time He has invested in me? Even my devotional prayers – how can they compare to the time He has invested in me?!?

You know friend, that is what Yosemite Summit is all about. It’s about finally giving back to God some extended time. He’s been supporting you during hard times, and pushing the swing of your family and ministry faithfully, patiently, never stopping to rest even once… it’s time you said,

“God, Let me come spend some time with you.”

 

I’m thinking of quitting.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I love the kids. I even love you, most of the time. (J/K) It’s just that I feel like I hardly know God any more. I know that sounds crazy, I’m a pastor for crying out loud! But speaking of crying – if I was really honest with you (and with God), I might just cry out. But I don’t dare. I just keep on the happy face, stay busy, and hope no one knows how empty I feel inside sometimes. No, most of the time.

Busyness is my secret to survival. But if I could get away from all this “ministry stuff,” just for a little while – I think it would do wonders for my soul… and for the ministry. Ultimately the kids would benefit too, because everything I do would be more genuine coming from someone who isn’t going through the motions. Rather, they would be impacted by someone who has literally walked with God for a few days.

Do you think the ministry could survive a few days without me while I go reconnect with God? My family needs me to. I really need it. My soul needs it. I promise you, it’s the best thing you could send me to right now. I’ll be back before you know it, and I’ll be a different person. For I will have been with God, without distraction.

Thanks for listening.

Sincerely,
YOU