Mount Canigou!
posted July 3rd 2023
Mt Canigou during winter, as seen from our house, 40 kms away
Susan & I just got back from hiking/climbing Mount Canigou (2785 metres) in the French Pyrenees. The iconic mountain is a major landmark for the whole surrounding area & can even be seen from as far away as Marseille on a clear day, (260 kms away as the crow flies)! The summit remains covered in snow for much of the year, but the summer months make an ideal time to climb to the top, staying overnight in various refuges along the way.
mountain refuge
More important than the height of the mountain is its symbolism: for the Catalan people in both France & Spain, Mt Canigou is very much a part of their culture & history. It’s considered a sacred & spiritual place, full of myths & legends. One such legend has it that Noah’s ark came to rest here & remains buried somewhere under the snow & rocks! While that may be unlikely, the logo on all the brochures -‘Sacred mountain of the Catalans’ – seems to resonate well with everyone.
With this post, we’d like to continue with this spiritual theme, drawing on material from a talk given by David Brandt Berg, (founder of the missionary group that we worked with for many years), entitled ‘Mountain Men’.
inside the refuge: no electricity & no mattresses!
If you’re going to climb a mountain, you have to have the feeling that it’s really worth dying for! Any mountain – the mountain of this life, the mountain of accomplishment, the mountain of obstacles, of difficulty – if you’re going to climb it, it has to be worth dying for, to brave wind and cold and storm, symbolic of adversities. But on the mountain top alone, you feel so close to the Lord.
On the mountain you are the first to see the sun rise and the last to see it set. You see the full circle of God’s glorious creation – the 360-degree circumference of the horizon, the entire scope. You see the world in its proper perspective, with range after range to be conquered, and a world beyond the vision and horizon of normal men. You see distant peaks yet to be climbed, distant valleys yet to be crossed.
plenty of rock slides to cross….
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.” (Psalm 23:1,2) Where have you pictured those pastures? I’ve always envisioned them as mountain meadows with beautiful crystal mountain pools. “He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3) What is His path like? –A narrow and rugged mountain path!
If you climb a mountain, it’s usually a rough and a rugged road, and often means carrying a hard and a heavy load. And though the people you meet on the mountain aren’t always kind, they’re even worse down in the valley. There aren’t many places to live on the mountain – just little rugged shelters and lean-tos. There’s not much to eat. It’s cold and windy, but it’s a thrill even to die there. It’s better to die on the mountain than to live in the valley!
Are you a mountain man or a valley villain?
Mt Canigou summit
at the summit!
For the complete Mountain Men article & other writings from David Brandt Berg, please see: