Remembering Back and Straining Forward

On Friday, August 23, Greg and I hiked up Reese Creek.  We started at the northern border to Yellowstone National Park on Old Yellowstone Trail.  That's where there's a road there that goes up Electric Peak to Malcolm Forbe's old cabin.

The hike was very enjoyable, and Greg and I hiked 3.8 miles up the creek into Yellowstone Park and returned the same way we came.  We saw a lot of evidence of bear activity, and enjoyed the wandering stream.

A pronghorn buck watches Greg and I as we hike toward Reese Creek.

This is an old wheel from a cart or wagon near Reese Creek inside Yellowstone Park.  It's probably from the old coal mining days.

Electric Creek, a creek that runs into Reese Creek

A very tall cottonwood tree near Electric Creek

A flame skimmer dragonfly near Reese Creek

Along the hike, I was brought back to a time about 30 years ago.  Back when I was a little kid, I remember dad and mom taking us up to Forbes Cabin along that old road that Greg and I started our hike from.  Dad was the caretaker for the cabin before it was purchased by Royal Teton Ranch (Church Universal and Triumphant).

Myself and my brother Scott sit on the porch at Forbes Cabin in July 1984. (Photo by Sam)

Forbes Cabin in August 1984 (Photo by Sam)

Going through dad's old photo albums, I occasionally see a picture of billionaire Malcolm Forbes.  I never met him, but my dad did.

Malcolm Forbes (publisher of Forbes Magazine) and my Dad in front of Mr. Forbes' private airplane on August 11, 1983 (Photo taken on Sam's camera, unknown photographer)

Apparently, Mr. Forbes went to that cabin about once a year, sometimes with motorcycles.  When I was a boy, my dad or our family would go up to the cabin about once a week and cut wood, have picnics, and take care of the cabin.  The cabin is only a short hike from the Yellowstone National Park border, which is clearly marked.

Since Royal Teton Ranch has owned the property, I have been up to the place once, in 2008 when I hiked up to the summit of Electric Peak for my second time.  I went with Adam and Aleŝ, two really good buddies.  Forbes Cabin was the starting point for our hike.  We had to park the car about a quarter of a mile away from the cabin.

If you remember from the blog I wrote on MySpace that long ago, we got stuck up there because my car battery died.  We were rescued by a forest ranger, and then a couple days later my family went up to get my Blazer.

I would put up a link to that blog, but since MySpace has so dramatically changed, I no longer have access to the blog until they provide some sort of download tool.

So much had changed up there since I was a little kid!  Between the 1990s and 2008, there was a forest fire which destroyed the forest around the cabin.  At this point there are only a bunch of stumps and dead trees surrounding the area.  At least the cabin, the guest cabin, and the stable were protected from the fire.  At the time I wished that Royal Teton Ranch had done a better job taking care of the cabin.  There were some glaring maintenance issues that my family and I noticed when we were there.

Regardless, I experienced a lot of nostalgia when I went up there with Adam and Aleŝ back in 2008.

Aleŝ takes a photo of the stable from Forbes Cabin. (Photo by Adam 7/25/2008)

Forbes Cabin (Photo by Jean 7/27/2008)

The tool shed and barbecue grill at Forbes Cabin (Photo by Jean 7/27/2008)

Behind the guest cabin the burned forest is so visible.  (Photo by Jean 7/27/2008)

The stable and corral below Forbes Cabin (photo by Jean 7/27/2008)

By the way, I'd like to congratulate Aleŝ and his bride on their recent wedding!  I'm very happy for the two of them and wish them all of life's best.

Today the cabin is called Eagle's Nest and is a nice vacation rental.  Last time I spoke with Royal Teton Ranch about the property last year, they were very concerned about the possibility of another wildfire being started by vehicles with catalytic converters and so they wouldn't let me up there to see the outside of the property.  They didn't ask what model, make, or year my vehicle was (that actually makes a difference with wildfires caused by catalytic converters, by the way).  Apparently, they even required fire prevention methods when guests went up to the cabin.  They seemed a bit paranoid, but experiences like this from Church Universal and Triumphant aren't unusual, and I should have expected it.

So when I was hiking with Greg a month ago, I remembered my experiences on Electric Peak.  My family would hike to the two lakes (ponds, really) in the area occasionally.  We always walked to the spring that fed the cabin its ice cold fresh water when we went to the cabin.  The views from the balcony of the cabin were magnificent, giving a full view of Gardiner Basin.  Wildlife was prevalent there, with most of the animals that I enjoy to see in Yellowstone Park.  Dad or one of us boys would check for dead mice in our extensive mouse trap line under the cabin.  I remember playing in the yard in front of the cabin, looking for bugs near the trees next to the cabin and looking over the cliff nearby when my parents would supervise.

There have been so many changes between then and now.  Sometimes it feels like I can almost grasp those "good old days," and wonder what happened.

I grew up.

Those simple pleasures back then occurred because a good opportunity was presented to my dad.  How, in general, opportunities come isn't always so simple, or even predictable.  Even revisiting those days at the cabin has proven to be not so simple.

That opportunity was temporal.  Life is constantly changing, and so are our opportunities.  But when we find a good one, isn't it our way to hold on to it for as long as we can?  When those opportunities finally die out, it's only then when we think about those being "the good old days."  I think this applies to a whole range of things: a beloved spouse or mother who's passed away, a good job, or living in a certain place for example.

We kind of turn nostalgia on its head when we face bad or difficult times.  We say, "I wish we were back then when..." not even thinking about the troubles we faced during those times.  Much of the time, our troubles push us to the next big opportunity that we don't even see yet.  We can't even imagine what that opportunity would look like because we seem to be in the shadow of our troubles.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (Php 3:12-16 NIV)

I'm looking forward to finding the next good opportunity.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring?