Mt. Jumullong: Kicking off Holy Week with Guam's best hike

View from the top of Mt. Jumullong, Guam.

What an experience I just had. This day has been something else. This week I came on a last minute trip to Guam for work. I found out that it was a possibility about a week and a half ago but didn’t really think I was going to be able to swing it. Somehow I convinced my bosses to let me tag along.

I have traveled a lot throughout the Pacific in the last few years. Any time I make one of these trips, I try to find opportunities when the work is finished to go on a hike. Today I set out to do just that.

Problem this time: I have no cell phone reception and the Wi-Fi in the hotel room I’m staying in is pretty terrible. So, I basically had to go old school to find my way to the start of this trail. I didn’t have a map or an atlas, but I tried Google Maps prior to leaving the hotel, was able to get directions uploaded, and sort of found my way down here by taking a screenshot and just heading out like it was the early 2000’s again. The drive was about 40 minutes south along the west coast, doubled though because I could not find the trailhead. Before giving up and heading back, I decided to give it one more try. I had passed this trailhead maybe four times.

This isn’t the hike I had actually set out to do. I intended to hike this thing called Mt. Lamlam. I saw on Reddit what I figured to be a joke because it’s only about a quarter of a mile above sea level, but it’s no joke—Mt. Lamlam is technically the tallest mountain in the world when considering that it begins over 6.5 miles below the surface of the ocean at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. What a cool claim I would be able to make by saying I climbed the tallest mountain on Earth in just around an hour one afternoon.

Not to be.

Here I am Mt. Jumullong (pronounced hu-mu-yong) instead, and I cannot be happier it worked out this way. This hike leading into Holy Week has been such a moving experience.

I saw something recently advising that one never hike alone. As I’m walking up this hill for probably about 45 minutes, I realized that though I’m by myself, I never hike alone. I think you might understand what I’m getting at.

I’ve had a tough relationship with the Lord for the last few years. Prior to being stationed in Okinawa in 2022, I was ordained as a minister in the church that I attended. I committed my life to not only being a Christian but being a minister of Christ. What have I done with that ordination since then? Absolutely nothing.

I have reasons, excuses really, that I didn’t physically attend church in Japan after passively seeking one out that fit my comfort zone. I slipped back into some sinful ways. I’m estranged from my family right now. And I’m struggling. I’ve been struggling through it. And I’ve been ashamed of myself. And I’ve been ashamed to go to the Lord in prayer because of how I continue to wrong Him.

As I walked up this hill, my mentality shifted. I need you to Google what Mt. Jumullong is. I think there is a Catholic ritual on Guam that many come up here on Good Friday and stop at various stations along the trail to symbolize Jesus’ journey up Golgotha on the way to His crucifixion.

I didn’t do this as a ritual. I knew about it but accidentally stumbled upon this trail. As I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t the one I set out on. Ritualistically designed or not, a couple of the stations though, like “Jesus takes up His cross” at the very beginning of the hike or Him falling along the way, definitely induce emotion in the traveler. 

Specifically, I was moved to tears when I approached “Jesus is nailed to the cross.” It was a completely spontaneous response that overtook me there.

You know, I cried that day when I was ordained. Looking back, I wonder if I sort of forced myself to cry because I felt that I should be moved. But I tell you, today there was no forcing myself. It was very moving.

Amazing Grace: “I once was lost but now am found.” I got thinking, as well, God is omnipotent. He didn’t have to look to find you. He knew where you were all along. Just like I was lost on my way to this hike, I kept turning around and kept looking until the path was made clear to me. And it is a narrow path as I found out coming up here. Don’t be confused by some of the reviews you may find that say the path is wide. There are plenty of areas where sawgrass overtakes it.

It encroaches on the trail and cuts up your arms, legs, neck, and face. They told me the other day not to go on hikes around here in shorts because of this sawgrass. Well, I’m stubborn and am in shorts. You get cut up. That added to the experience for me. I thought, no matter how bad this hurts or might sting in the shower later, Christ was scourged…He was beaten, spit on, all those things. He was nailed to a cross and He died for me. He died for you.

I think I can “suffer” through 45 minutes walking up a hill on a relatively warm afternoon carrying only this Powerade, my wallet, and phone while sawgrass cuts me up so that the sweat is stinging. I’m extremely glad I did and experienced this. I hope it brings me back on the path that I am supposed to be on…that I need to be on—honoring the sacrifice that He made for me.

Easter Sunday is approaching. I preached on an Easter Sunday a few years ago. In the sermon, I likened preaching on Resurrection Sunday to playing in the Super Bowl, just like climbing Mt. Lamlam would have been something my proud/arrogant self could brag about. There’s no place for that. Today I am humbled and reminded of what I’ve known but have been failing to regard—my need to prioritize the Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, and Redeemer of all.

If you’re struggling too (or even if you're not), praise Him and be blessed. I hope you will this week as we remember the single most significant event in all of history.

He is sufficient. I am and you are too.