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Adventure in the Mountains of Croatia, Part 4

by Kelli Hedding, Copyright May 28, 2008, all rights reserved. 517 views

Conclusion - October 6, 2007

I am sitting on top of a mountain with my feet dangling over the edge.  We slept on a ledge but had to move later when it rained.  We spread Hansi’s canvas over a stone table and conked out again until 10:00 (this morning).  It was so good.  We are so blessed.

Today we will backpack to Split.

We got off to a late start hiking the next morning.  It was a good day for hiking even though most of the day was drizzly and misty; it kept us from sweating so much and therefore we did not use up our water so quickly.  From our mountain we could see where it was raining around us and our ship was hidden by a downpour most of the day.

Now that it was daylight we were able to find the bunkers we had been looking for the night before.  We were glad we had not continued hiking to try and find one to sleep in – all of them were full of manure.

All day we hiked from one mountain peak to another.  For most of the day we hiked in silence, lost in our own worlds of thought.  At one point, standing on a high peak, we were surrounded by such a great cloud of mist we couldn’t see much more than ten yards around us.  It was like being on a fairy tale island in the clouds.

The distance to Split was much longer than we expected and it gradually became clear to us that we would not make it to Split – we were all running low on water.  We were very disappointed when we had to come down out of the mountains and go back to the ship without having made it to our destination.

Here is a map of our journey. Our trail is marked in yellow.

From Misc Images

We did not reach the destination we had planned for ourselves but I think that God met each of us where we needed him to on that adventure.  I did not see it so much at the time but looking back I can see so many ways where God was taking care of every little detail for us and blessing us.  One subtle thing happened during our adventure, though, that has stood out in my mind the most as an encouragement to me in the place I am in life.  Before I end I would like to share it in hopes that it can be an encouragement to others.

At one point in the trail we had been walking down in a valley between peaks for a long time.  It was difficult to find the trail because of the bushes and tall grass.  When the sun came out for a bit it became hot and muggy and uncomfortable.  There was no great mountaintop view to inspire us.  I began to think about how it reflected the way I was feeling in my life – lost.  I wondered if we were even on the right trail.  I wondered if we would ever start hiking upward out of the valley; it seemed to me that we should have started going up long ago.

The scenery changed and we started going through trees.  Still we did not seem to be going upward at all.  Unexpectedly we emerged from the trees on a rocky peak with a gorgeous view.  I was rather taken aback.  I realized that we had gradually been going upwards all the time.

There were no fireworks; there were no sweaty palms; there was no flip-flop feeling in my stomach, but God spoke to me through that little occurrence.  It was just a matter-of-fact, “this is the way it is sometimes,” realization as if I were being told my shoe size.

You may think you are lost in a valley and are not getting anywhere; there may be so many trees blocking your view that you can’t see around the bends in the trail; there may be just an empty field and the future looks bleak; you may even wonder if you’re still on the right path.  But if you keep your eyes fixed on God He will lead you down the correct path.  You will not be in that valley forever.  Imperceptibly your path is leading upward and one day you’ll come around a bend in the trail and there will be a great view waiting for you.

The girls and I reached the foot of our mountain in the clouds just as the sun was disappearing over the horizon.  We were exhausted as we ordered some dinner at a little café in the town below.  We took the bus back to Trogir.  Civilization seemed extra loud and crude after our 24 hours in the mountains; I felt like I was waking up from a very sweet dream to the sound of a needle gun.

It is pretty special now looking back at those mountains in Croatia after our little adventure and realizing that God had taken us from the little hills we had planned for ourselves and instead set us on top of a mountain.

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