On the first Saturday of January 2025, I took a group of our altar servers to a small town at the foot of Mount San Gorgonio near San Bernardino, California. The mountain is 11,500 ft. high. The town is 6,200 ft. elevation. We lived in Fontana, a city at about 1,100 ft. elevation, about 45 minutes away. The kids have lived there all their lives, but none of them had ever been to the base of the mountain. I wanted to show them something about life outside the lowland city.
I had told them it would be chillier there than at home but few wore heavier clothes. They didn’t understand that altitude makes a difference. We arrived at 9:30 a.m. The first thing they noticed was that the air was crisp, and clean, and smelled good. Most wished they had brought a warmer jacket.
We walked over to the creek. Could they hear the babbling? Yes! First time to hear a naturally flowing stream. Sounded soothing and gentle. Look up at the sky. It’s blue! Not the gray/brown we see in Fontana. I explained that just being in nature can be healing if you’re stressed, or sick in any way. I think they felt that.
We walked down to the waterfalls, Big Falls, the highest in southern California. Even at this time of year, a lot of water was flowing. Sounded so alive. These young people had never seen a waterfall. Beautiful. Where does all that water come from? It hasn’t rained or snowed for eight months. Can you drink the water? I got down and took a handful and drank it. Tastes good, and so cold. Not all water comes from a plastic bottle. We had told them we would not be providing any bottles of water on this trip.
Coming back up the stream we passed an old tree on its side with a lot of stones piled inside. I invited them to add their own stones. The usual tendency in this country is to put a stone on top to finish the pile, in a way that no one can add one on top of yours. I explained that in Korea these kinds of piled stones are everywhere on trails in the mountains. There, it is customary to add a stone such that the next person can also add his or her stone, and so keep the pile going up. This is a big cultural difference. In America, we like to be on top, the best, the last. But in Korea, community is more important. “Think of the next person.” I think they understood.
We walked about three-quarters of a mile upstream to a place where we could cross the creek and take a picture at the trailhead going to the top (a 19-mile round trip). The stream bed is about 100 yards wide, full of boulders and rough sand. When it rains the water rushes down in a torrent. But now there was no water at all. Where was it? Here, it flows under the rocks and sand until it comes up again. Fascinating! Nature is strange. We took some pictures and walked back down to the picnic area for hot dogs and hot chocolate. On the way back some worked together to build a stone pile. Good practice in working together. Some listened to me and hugged some of the big trees along the way. If you’re sensitive you can feel the energy in a tree. What an idea!
Arriving at the table area, we discovered that the father who had stayed to cook the hot dogs had lit the charcoal, but when the ranger saw the smoke, he rushed over and told him to put it out. No fires! Too dangerous at this time of year. Some ate cold hot dogs. Others had just boiled corn and hot chocolate and chips and an orange. Another lesson — we can’t control everything.
I hope these young people remember a few of the experiences we had together. Nature is not far away. It is good and healthy and very interesting.
Columban Fr. Al Utzig was pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Fontana for thirteen years and was missioned for 20 years in Korea. He is now the U.S. Region Director.
