This story is a little different from my usual posts. It's an account of our church's High Adventure trip for 2012. It's a tale of twelve young men and eight adult leaders in the wilderness of the Ozark Mountains.
It's a story of humility, challenges and miracles.
But...let me start at the beginning. In our local congregation (called a Ward), I serve as the leader of all young men, ages 12-18. Our Church believes strongly in the Boy Scouts of America, and what that program can do to help build character and faith in the lives of young men. Boys age 12-13 attend a typical Scout camp each summer. Young men ages 14-18 participate in what's called High Adventure –a more rigorous outdoor Scouting experience. I worked with my fellow leaders to design a fun - but challenging - trip for the boys. We wanted to stretch them a little, getting outside their normal comfort zone, to help them gain confidence so that they can rise to meet challenges that will come their way later in life. Little did I know that I would be the one to learn this principle...
My wife helped me design a logo, to help the young men remember the theme for the experience. It was "Mission: Possible"
For this trip, we decided on the Ouachita National Forest, in Arkansas, just over the border of Texas. We found the Eagle Rock Loop trail - about 27 miles of backing in the wilderness. No cel phones, no videogames, no cars, no real signs of civilization ; )
We began the first day by driving about eight hours from Austin, TX to the trailhead, which was near Glenwood, AR. Along the way, we stopped for lunch at a McDonald's (really roughing it). Many of the boys are interested in soccer, and they had the Euro Cup games on a big-screen TV in the restaurant:
We arrived at the trail head, and got everyone into their gear - ready to start! We wanted to commemorate the moment, when everyone was still full of energy and hope ; )
We proceeded just about 100 yards into the forest, when we encountered the first...of many...challenges. The trail went straight up for about half a mile. When I say "straight up", I'm talking about one of the steepest grades that I've ever hiked - about a 40-45 degree climb. It was about 90 degrees, with high humidity.
Since we were backpacking for an entire week, with no access to roads or modern conveniences, we had to bring everything on our backs (including every single meal). This, combined with tents, stoves, water filters, sleeping bag, etc. meant a pretty heavy pack. Mine was close to 40 lbs ; ) That's with every optional item left behind. That first climb was one of the most difficult I've encountered. You see, I've been preparing physically for this trip, for months. I did everything that I could, given time constraints, to be ready. I got about half way up the hill and was sucking wind, as they say. I was drenched in sweat, trying to pay attention to my glucose level. If you didn't know, I'm a Type 1 Diabetic. This means that I have to pack extra equipment and food than anyone else. Without a nearby 7-Eleven, I have to be ready to handle any health issues that would come my way. At this point, I decided to say a little prayer. I asked for a little help to get over this steep incline. I didn't notice it at first, but the help came. I made it to the top. Coming down the other side had its own challenges, as you're simply exercising a different set of muscles...still tiring.
This climb was tough for everyone - not just me. The boys were a little tired by the time we finished the portion of the trail. We stopped at a stream, where the cool water definitely helped. We decided, as a group, to set-u camp right there, on the spot.
That evening, we all looked forward to a good rest, to hit the trail the next day. Well, that was the plan ; )
That evening, one of the biggest thunderstorms I've seen in a while, hit our area. At first, while you're laying in your tent, you look up at the sky. You have the "rain fly" off, because it's still close to 85 degrees, and you're just sweating inside your tent. Then, we were treated to a lightning show as streaks of light flashed across the sky. Then - the rain. I jumped up out of my tent and put the fly on - this is a covering that goes over the tent, to keep water from hitting you directly. It poured. Some guys staying in hammocks ended up soaked. All of the tents and gear ended up wet. We didn't get the restful sleep I had planned for.
The next morning, we packed everything up and had to put wet things inside of our packs. I interviewed a couple of the guys about the previous evening:
These guys are trying to wring out their gear, before we hit the trail
We have some characters in our group....
We packed everything up and hit the trail. The goal for the day was about 9 miles of backpacking, on easy terrain. We would follow a river, so we had constant access to water, and it should be pretty flat near the water.
As you can see from the pictures, the scenery was gorgeous. As hot and humid as it was, the lush forests were beautiful - and a nice change from what you usually find in Texas.
A big part of the trail was crossing streams and rivers. We have at least a dozen water crossings on the first day. Most were easy - like the image above. Some got a little deeper. We had to bring a pair of water shoes, to keep our boots from getting wet. Wet boots/socks would produce blisters that would make this a rough hike.
We took a few breaks, especially when we found interesting pools of water. It was hot enough that most guys didn't wait more than 30 seconds to peel off their packs and jump into the water.
You just had to keep an eye out for snakes in the water. We did find a few...at least it kept everyone on their toes ; )
We proceed on the trail at a pretty good pace, as it was mostly flat. I took the lead and tried to set a decent pace. Many of our young men play sports in school, so they're in decent shape.
We finally reached a decent destination for lunch. Everyone broke out stoves, as we had to boil water to cook our dehydrated/freeze-dried meals. The food was good - but hot ; )
Some took advantage of a nearby swimming hole to do a little fishing. Not 5 minutes had passed and one of my boys produced his first perch:
Once we finished lunch, it was time to hit the trail. We were falling behind schedule and still had a significan distance to hike to that day.
That's when things got a little more difficult.
I'll pick this story up in the next post. Thanks for reading....
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