Wilderness Outreach

2007 High Sierra Altar
 

Gila 2008 Altar

High Sierra 2008 Altar

Gila Mimbres Lake, Log Rounds Altar Loa

Idaho 2008. The "Shepherd and the Stone Altar"

Steve Petesch of the USFS just after finding the Shepherd's Rock

A closeup of the Shepherd's Rock

Each altar of sacrifice is constructed uniquely by a reverant and spontaneous team of men from the materials at hand in the wilderness.

While the High Sierra Altars have been constructed entirely of stone, The Gila altar was constructed of Aspen logs and a stone top. 

When time does not permit building a substantial altar existing stumps, stones and picnic tables are used for the celebration of the Mass.

When the retreat is over, the altar is respecfully dismantled and the site is returned to its pristine wilderness condition.

The building of the Idaho 2008 Altar is a profound story. The Men hiked in 8 to 10 miles to the base camp on Saturday August 23rd. After the camp was set up, Fr Coning anounced that a suitable site was needed for the Sanctuary and the building of the Altar. Jeff McKenna insisted that the Altar be constructed on a ridge top several hundred feet above the base camp, although that would require climbing the hill after work at the end of each day for Mass. Not a small task when one has been hiking, swinging a Pulaski and building hiking trails for 8 hours. After much debate and several visits to the ridgetop, all the men hiked up to the proposed spot. It was a beautiful location flanked by pines on the south, a rock knoll on the west, Boulder Mountain on the north and a panoramic view to the east. Fr Coning and all the men agreed that it was the "right" place for the Sanctuary and the Altar.

The next morning the men hiked to the top of the ridge and began constructing the altar.

Steve Petesch, One of the USFS leaders, a Catholic and authentic "Wild at Heart" mountain man, joined us. At one point, Steve found a good flat rock and when he picked it up and turned it over, he found that John 3-17 was written on it in black paint or ink. Steve realized that this must be the work of the "Old Shepherd, Billie. Billie was a man, as legend has it, who moved to the Panhandle of Idaho in the late 1890's. Formerly from England and University of Cambridge educated, Billie was heartbroken when the woman he loved refused to marry him. He moved to America where he proceeded to gamble and live a life of debauchery until he found Christ. He then moved to Idaho and lived the rest of his life as a shepherd, herding sheep up and down the mountains and painting scripture on rock.

We incorporated the "Rock" into the Altar as its front.