Kirkpatrick Kids' Theme Song: Ain't No Mountain High Enough . . .
Sunday morning a group of us hiked three (???) hours to a monastery called “Treskavec.” The weather was absolutely lovely and the scenery exquisite. Wow! God really went all out when designing Prilep and her surrounding mountains! The hike was very long but only a few spots were even slightly difficult. It's a hike we hope to do again before it gets too hot (very few trees along the way!).
Hristina, one of our regulars for ALL our Bible studies, was acting as monastery hostess for this Orthodox holiday, serving guests who came for a day trip or helping those spending the weekend. Some of those who went are part of our Bible studies and some are from our English classes, but all together we were a pretty big group! Here we are (along with the monastery guard dog, Bruno):
Treskavec sits at 4100 feet and was built in 14th century. The monks built it in a secluded area to keep the flame of the Orthodox faith alive under the persecution of the Turks.
Just beyond the monastery is the “Golden Apple,” a metal ball on top of a cross used as a lightening rod, to reroute the lightening that often strikes in the area. In the pic below, it's the peak on the right. 
It may look impressive, but this perspective doesn't do it justice -- it's even higher and more terrifying (or higher and more fun -- again, depending on your perspective!) The second pic below shows better how much higher the Golden Apple is. You can see the white cross painted on the same rockface in both pics (above & below).
Most of the group, including Kyle and the kids, hiked to the Golden Apple. They had a blast but from all reports I am thankful I wasn't there to see the path they took my children on!! In the picture below you can see the specks on top: that's our group.
There's also a rock formation that looks like a lion silhouette. Kyle and the kids and few others climbed that too. It's not quite as high as the Golden Apple, but equally as dangerous in my book!
The hike back home was an easy one. The views were just as spectacular in reverse! We were all exhausted when we got home, but it was a good exhaustion – and our beds never looked so sweet!PS God is so good to us. On the hike He even gave us reminders of our beloved LSU:
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