To Heights and unto Depths: Letters from the Colorado Trail

by John Nepil

Spanning nearly 500 miles across the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Trail is an epic, arduous route through some of America’s most breathtaking natural grandeur. In the summer of 2022, Fr. John Nepil, priest-theologian and mountaineer, set out to traverse the entire trail as a “thru-hike” with a trio of companions, accompanied along the way by an eclectic rotating cast of priests and young people. This memoir, which is simultaneously a theological reflection on life, Christianity, and the mountains themselves, is the fruit of that pilgrimage.

Drawing on great thinkers of the past century, including Luigi Giussani, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and Hans Urs von Balthasar, Fr. Nepil offers a “first ascent”: a new route where Catholic theology meets alpine adventure. In his telling, the Catholic worldview offers the fullest spiritual vision of the backcountry, and the backcountry, in turn, reveals itself as a privileged setting for Catholic formation. Seen from the trail, the Catholic faith comes alive as an Incarnational worldview where we rediscover humanity, creation, and God.

This is a rich theological guidebook for all Catholic lovers of the great outdoors—particularly the mountains—and for all who see and seek God in the stark majesty of the natural world.

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2025

Reviews

[Jenna McFall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly think this is the best book I’ve read in years. Fr. John brings the incarnation and humanity into focus, allowing the reader to more fully understand the mystery of God.
This book has awakened my soul to the desire of the transcendentals, and so I have been mercilessly recommending it to all of my friends. I will certainly come back to it soon.
The writing carries and each chapter is bite sized which I appreciated.

[Kileen Medearis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. As a native Coloradoan, mother to five children (three of which are boys), and wife to an outdoorsman, this book told the story of love for God's creation with the Creator in such an eloquent way. Sometimes it has been difficult to articulate to certain family members the reason our family loves to spend our free time in the outdoors, but this book perfectly articulates the combination of the physical and spiritual reality the Christian Catholic finds when with God in His creation. Father John is a wonderful storyteller and found myself both crying and laughing throughout. I also loved the references he made to spiritual writings / authors and classic works of literature.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent meditation on faith and one's relationship with Christ, through a mountaineering lens. Fr Nepil's writing is easy to understand, and the way he chose to break the book down into smaller "letters" also helps with the readability. Fr Nepil also draws extensively from von Balthasar, Giussani, and Guardini. This has been my largest experience of them so far, and am looking forward to reading more from them. Given I'm outdoorsy as well, I know I'll come back to this book in the future.

[Joshua Camp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read. Profound and fascinating at every chapter. Quite lovely and will read again.