Baptized in Goat Lake

This past Saturday was a remarkable day! Austin is a senior in high school. I have been praying for him as his “Prayer Warrior” for 4 years. Two weeks ago we talked about baptism and what it means. Austin wanted me to take him into the Cascade Mountains to be baptized in a cold, snow melt fed lake called Goat Lake.

Goat Lake is located in the heart of the Goat Rocks Wilderness at almost 6,000 feet elevation. The lake appears to have been naturally created from a volcano that blew out one side and died. It is entirely filled with fresh snow every winter. Every year, from 1994 until 2002, I had never seen this lake thaw. My annual August trek to Goat Lake was usually the same sight; a thin crescent line of blue water showing along the southern edge of the lake; the remainder was snow.

The morning began at 5:00 am with a 3.5 hour drive to the trailhead near Chambers Lake in Washington. Trail 95 to Goat Lake went across Goat Ridge, through forests and hills, covered, today, with heavy fog that kept everything dripping wet. The temperature was hovering around 40 degrees and the sun peeked in and out through the dense fog to feel warm upon our faces. The higher we climbed the more sun we felt. The 12 mile round trip venture was amazingly beautiful.

Once we crossed Goat Ridge to come down the east side towards the lake, the fog disappeared for the rest of the day and we enjoyed warm, sunny weather. The October sky was clear, the air was fresh; patches of snow dotted the mountains and the Fall colors of vegetation were brilliant hues of reds, yellows, green and orange. It was beautiful!

The water was about 38 degrees! Snowmelt continued to flow into the lake creating a waterfall at the outlet that dropped several hundred feet to the valley floor below. It is always a beautiful view to see majestic Mt Adams shining in the sun.

Austin was baptized by his father; a beautiful sight. He will never forget this experience! The water was very cold, but the warmth of the Lord brought joy to both dad and son.

We began our return trip along Trail 96 for about 6.5 miles, through amazing colors on the carpeted hillside. The 3 ½ hour trip home gave us time to think about today’s event and to drift back into time, viewing events in our own lives.

I began to think about my own baptism. I was baptized in a baptistery in a little church in Kansas. I dressed in a gown, walked up the steps, down the steps, dunked in the warm water, then back up the steps and out to dry off. The end result was the same as Austin’s but his was so much more exciting!

Do you remember your baptism??