2012 High Adventure - Part 3

Welcome to the third post on my High Adventure trip in the wilderness of Southern Arkansas.  For more background on the story, please see the previous posts here and here.

When we left the story, I had 2nd degree burns on my foot, and we still had to hike several miles that day, to reach our campsite.


I awoke the next day, still trying to figure out how I was going to make it.  I hadn't tried to put my hiking boots on since before the accident.  I dressed the wound and used every bit of my Boy Scout first aid training to bandage up my foot for the trail.

The boots came on.  They hurt.  I didn't have much of a choice, so I just started moving. Fortunately, the scenery helped take my mind off a horrible situation:

I made it - slowly - to our destination, bringing up "the rear" of the group. Each step was painful, but I made it.  Another miracle.

We actually arrived much, much faster than we had planned.  We were going to camp for the night in this location, but decided to just spend a long lunch at this awesome swimming hole:

The boys even tried their hand at some additional spear fishing.  One young man had an interesting technique.  I asked him to demonstrate (his older brother got involved, as well):

I didn't get in the water, because I didn't want to take my boots off.  I might not get them back on ; ) After a long break, we decided to continue on the trail, to make the journey to the cars on the following day a little easier.  The journey was filled with lots of water crossings, just like the second day of our adventure:

After another couple of hours, we reached our campsite for the evening.  We set-up camp and relaxed in the river.  I spent a lot of time in the water.  I took advantage of the time to try and wash myself.  After sweating clean through every piece of clothing for 4 days...I wasn't smelling too good ; ) Thank goodness I packed a little soap.

That evening, we held our last discussion.  Holding to the "Mission: Possible" theme - I wanted the young men to talk about our "mission" to share the Gospel with our friends and less-active family members.  We followed that with a testimony meeting:

For me, this was the highlight of the entire trip.  In fact, hearing some of these young men bear their testimony made all of the months of planning...and all of the physical pain I was experiencing...worth it.  I had a chance to tell them about the experience with the Priesthood blessing, and personally testify to them of the power of the Priesthood.

The next morning, we made the last leg of the trip to reach the cars.  If you'll remember, this was perhaps the most difficult part of the trip.  Half a mile straight up, and another half mile straight down.

I've talked a great deal about how much it hurt.  I won't bore you with more of that.  Needless to say, I've actually discovered that I've discovered my new threshold for pain.  This was another interesting learning experience ; )

On the way up, I prayed several times to be able to make it to the top.  I had to stop several times, but slowly...made it on my own.  Yet another miracle.

When I reached the top, the leaders had actually sent most of the young men ahead to the cars, but stayed behind to carry my backpack down the hill.  It was a beautiful and kind gesture.  However, my pride wouldn't allow that to happen.  I rested for a bit at the top.  While there, we finally had cel phone signals for the first time in 5 days.  Needless to say, text messages were flying to wives and loved ones:

We finally made it to the end of the trail...and there were smiles on everyone's faces.  It was a tough hike, but we were ready to experience air conditioning as quickly as possible ; )

The crew at the end of High Adventure...it's a good thing there isn't a smell associated with the image.  We smelled horrible:

About a week after we got home, we held a meeting with all the parents, to show them these pictures and share our experiences with them.  I wanted the parents to understand that we accomplished all the goals that we set out for the High Adventure trip.  We had a tough time, but we also had a lot of fun.  I got to know those boys and I'm grateful I was able to stick around for that to happen.

The boys actually presented me with a "Perseverance Award".  They probably don't know how much this means to me.

Overall, High Adventure was a deeply personal experience.  I've had a tough time writing about what happened, because it was such an intimately spiritual experience.  Upon reflection, I felt that I should share the story.  Perhaps you or a friend will experience difficult challenges and can just learn to do what I had to do.  Prepare as best you can, humble yourself, have faith and trust in the Lord.  I'm living proof that our Heavenly Father knows each of us, and watches over us.  If you want to understand the power of the Priesthood - just ask me.  I'll tell you ; )