08/24/2016
TREK 2016 - So, the most frequently asked question: "Was it fun?". HA! So... I feel there are subcategories of "fun". There is "amusement park" kind of fun, where you just relax and have .... FUN! Then, there is the kind of fun you get from doing a marathon, or an Ironman, or .... TREK! The kind of fun where you work, and WORK HARD, and have to push yourself to some limit....and then MORE and realize you still HAVE more. The kind of fun that requires sacrifice, commitment, effort, dedication and fortitude. The kind of FUN that leads to....JOY!
So, was it all it was cracked up to be? No....it was much more. First, it was beautiful! Mt. Adams at every turn. One night the stars were so BRILLIANT they were breathtaking! The Milky Way extended the entire sky and there was a meteor shower that night, so there were shooting stars all over...some with fire trails. It was amazing! "All things denote there is a GOD!" The smells, the sounds, the sights....all just beautiful!
COURAGE PULL - after we got our carts loaded and met our "families", we headed off. We went up, up, up for quite awhile. We came to a stop and the trail boss came by and said they wanted three kids to volunteer to do something hard. So three of our toughies volunteered - two boys and a gal. They took the rest of us down and asked why THEY didn't volunteer....and had a discussion about why we shy away from hard stuff. He told a story about a guy that wanted to be a marine, so he hired an x-marine to come train him. He said okay, but you gotta do all I tell you. He told him to do as many pull ups as possible...so the guy did as many as he could. He said, Can you do MORE? He did...like 5 more. He said are you SURE you are done? He said, well, I can do one more. So he did one more and said, Okay...I'm TOTALLY spent, I can't do any more! So the ex-marine said, "okay...now do 100 pull ups"....WHAT? He did it! He did all 100 pull ups. It took a while, but he did it! Then he said when you have gotten to your very end and all you can do...you are only at 40%! You can always go so much further than you THINK You can! So...with that, the rest of our families had to pull/push their carts up this KNARLY hill....without the three that volunteered!!!!! And...Ma's and Pa's couldn't help! We could only encourage and IF...it got dangerous, then we could step in (like if it started to go backwards or something) So..... up they went and it was a HUGE STRUGGLE! The kids that had volunteered to "do something hard" (but really were just going to encourage their families and friend) were sitting on a grassy side hill watching and were ALLLL cheering as they pushed the cart up the hill. As ma/pa, it was SOOOO hard to NOT step in and HELP as I watched them STRUGGLE and STRAIN. There were rocks and drainage ditches and their footings slipped, etc. We just CHEERED them on...and on... and on... I started to get emotional as I thought as a REAL parent....how hard it is to watch your kids struggle and know you can't step in, or sometimes that you shouldn't step in!! To know that it is far better for them to struggle and grow than to step in! Then...I thought about God...and how hard it must be for HIM to watch HIS children struggle and strain and slip ... and not intervene, knowing that through the struggles, we GROW and become stronger. Then...near the top, all the sudden, BAM.... the three other members of the family got to JUMP in from behind and PUSH! AHHHH...the kids up front were SO GRATEFUL! They didn't even know, just suddenly their BURDENS got lighter b/c their FAMILY/FRIENDS jumped in to help - angels! They said, "THANK YOU SO MUCH"...and the three were so EXCITED to help b/c they they don't want to watch their friends/family struggle either!
SILENT PULL: There was a moment on day one where we were asked to pull in silence for 1 mile. We were asked to think about someone that needed rescuing.... family, friends, ancestors, etc. It was interesting. I won't share what I pondered, nor what others shared as each was tender and personal. However, I will say this: the pull was through this part of the forest that was burned by a forest fired and looked .... dead. One our our boys on our TREK pointed out later that even though the trees looked dead, in reality, they may be alive! Some of those trees may just need time and care.... and it will be thriving again. Much is like those that need rescuing. They may seem "dead" to us or "too far gone", but in reality, there is always hope for life! With time and care, there is hope! We should never give up b/c we may not see that....
EMPATHY - day two brought the challenge of it being day two. Tired from the first day, and knowing you had another FULL day ahead...plus a half day on Sat. Trying to keep kids focused on the moment and not thinking too far ahead of themselves was a challenge. Teaching them that causes us to get overwhelmed and many times what brings us feelings of depression....but if we "stay here" in the moment, we can take one step at a time! Having empathy for one another when we are down...and encouraging, not critical...will help us be empathetic.
RESCUE: Day 1, the other company that Levi and Cam were in ended up taking a wrong turn and doing 13 mi (rather than 7 - yikes) That was supposed to be their "easy day"....then they had the hilly hard day the next day! I was worried about them and everyone, but had heard he and Cami handled it well (of course they did! :) )Well, day 3, there wasn't much breeze and it was 96. It got VERY HOT! First part was uphill. Then... they staged a part where the "other company" (Levi and Cam's) had their handcarts stolen by a MOB/ROBBERS and we had to go back to get them and RESCUE them (the theme of the entire trip was RESCUING NEVER STOPS). So, we all turned around and went back up the hill with our carts we had just gone down to hopefully "find" their carts. (if we didn't, we would have to share our supplies). "Luckily", we found their carts about a mile up the hill down a small off shoot road. We all split up our families to help pull their carts 2 miles up the hill in 95 degree temps to where they were located. (29 carts loaded with gear!) As we got there, I got emotional again (I swear, i am SUCH a baby!!!!!). As we pulled in and the other company was waiting...I knew Levi and Cami would be there. The members of the other company began to run down to help us bring in the carts and I kept looking for Levi and Cam and I got totally teary eyed! I saw him and I just RAN to him and he said, "MOMMA!!!!!" and I EMBRACED him and just hugged him! I guess I imagined what it was like for the real pioneers...who lost family, fathers, husbands, kids, mothers...and when they finally reunited with their groups.... glorious!
Later that night, the Stake President talked about the group that took the wrong turn and how that happens in life...sometimes our friends, our family or us....take a wrong turn! Sometimes that leads to a more difficult trail. HOWEVER, the most important thing is that we help rescue them with love....and always help them back to the correct path. We must always help one another as we have been doing all week, no one left behind...ever. Pretty cool. Some kids shared their experiences, etc.
MIRACLES: I have been battling with some plantar fascitis in my left foot for some time. It is in my left heel. I can still run as it warms up in about a mile or so, but after running...it always gets tight and painful. I knew that 7-8 miles hiking each day for 8 - 10 hours may really tick it off. So, I had my PT on Tues and he put some KT tape on my calf/soleus and also my arch. It really helped the first day, but it got pretty painful the second half of the day. That night I was walking around camp and talking to Connie Lockhart and I had what felt like a knife STABBING through the bottom of my arch/heel! OUCH! What was THAT??? It felt kind of like a pocket full of fluid bursting and then dissipating. Then...I felt nothing! My foot...just felt better! The rest of TREK....fine! I mean my calf and soleus still get tight, but the pain in my heel is GONE! So amazing!
