Reflection's from Matt Goldor
I found out Friday that my friend Jeff Cadle passed away June 9 from MS. I saw Jeff in January to say goodbye in person which of course made me sad but it was something I felt I had to do. He and I were friends in college and we always kept in touch via email or snail mail. (edit from Phil, a new photo gallery named Pictures from Matt Goldor has been added and Matt refers to those pictures in his entry) We traveled to Europe together right after college in 1988 and had a great time (1st pic). Jeff was a kindred spirit who loved adventure. Whether it was basketball, or surfing 15 foot waves with live coral reefs he obviously liked adventure (2nd pic). Last Saturday I was planning on going into the Enchantment mountain range for an overnighter. It was there that I would pay my final respects to Jeff. A friend from work joined me for the hike. He had limited experience backpacking but he was eager to go. We started out hiking to a beautiful alpine lake called Colchuck (3rd picture). We proceeded up to Aasgard Pass when the weather started deteriorating. At 7800ft it started snowing with rain mixed (4th pic). I thought we would spend the night then pack up in the morning if the weather stayed poor. Amazingly, it started to clear up. A full moon came out and illuminated the snow covered basin. The morning we woke up to great views. I walked to the top of a mountain called Little Annapurna. Normally this area is full of people on weekends but this time I was completely alone. I sat down said a small prayer and thought of Jeff. The summit has a very interesting rock formation that almost looks man made. I know Jeff was looking down enjoying the views with me.
As soon as I started to leave the weather got worse again and by the time I got to the car 5 hrs later, thunderstorms, and rain started. On the way home I was expecting heavy traffic but managed to make it home by 5:00 and made it to Mass at 5:30pm at St. Michael's. It was there that I heard about a young parishioner who drowned during a rafting accident. I prayed for her and her family and for Jeff. I have to believe that there was connection this weekend with all these events.