There’s been enough valleys in 2020 and peaks have been pretty hard to come by unless one takes a hike in the Rocky Mountains.

My husband and I did just that a couple of times this summer. The massive mountain range covers half of Colorado stretching from North to South. It’s a mighty force to be reckoned with and perhaps that’s why I kept hearing the tune “A Mighty Fortress is our God” looping in my head as I trudged uphill?

There are few hymns that stand the test of time like this one. Both the tune called Ein feste Burg is unster Gott and lyrics based on Psalm 46 were written by Martin Luther in the early 1500s when there were few peaks and plenty of valleys, too.

Passing through rugged trails and steep terrain we trekked to Shelf Lake near Bailey and Louis Lake by Telluride in two separate trips. Both destinations are far above the tree line where the air is thin and the views—magnificent.

The days were warm and clear yet coated with a haze from the smoke of raging wild fires.

Fires may ravage vegetation, rocks may crumble, avalanches may obliterate everything in their path but the mountains, they stay strong, like a fortress, impenetrable.

“And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us.” 

May you gain strength from Martin’s tune, his poetry and this arrangement filled with some rugged rhythms, twists and turns, peaks and valleys.

Watch the video below to hear the arrangement and see some of my favorite pictures from our hikes.