Although I had heard from a handful
of friends who had done the trip before how wonderful the experience is, I was
still uncertain on what to expect, how to adequately prepare myself and the
other, etc. After an over-night van ride and a few hours of being lost on back
roads, we pulled into Wilderness Ranch (Young Life property where the
backpacking trips leave from), greeted by the ecstatic Summer Staff and team of
guides that were to take us out on our excursion.
After learning how to pack a 50 lb.
pack to live out of for a week, we had a country-style lunch and a standard
Young Life Club with the other five groups, like us, anxiously awaiting their
departure.
Then we loaded up a van that took us
to the trail head and hit the trail. The trip consisted of 4 full days and 2
half days out on the trail led by our wonderfully energetic guides, Tony and
Travis.
The days that followed were some of
the toughest I'd ever faced. Not only had the other guys and me never done any
type of backpacking to this extent, but the altitude in Colorado is, to say the
least, slightly higher than in Fayetteville, Arkanasas.
We learned how to set up and take
down a communty-style camp site. Every meal was shared as we sat in a circle in
our Crazy Creek Chairs (Crazy Creek Inc. is not an official sponsor of this
blog post). We hiked, hiked, hiked, and hiked until our glutes and quads would
shake, and then we'd hike some more. And amidst all of the fatigue, we were all
able to share of life stories. Everyone was able to share the nitty-gritty of
their own lives, and thus, experience the transforming and unconditional power
of the Lord in a new way. We were able to have our own alone time with God
every day, and were able to share what God had shown us when we met as a group.
Besides boring you with
moment-by-moment details of every day, it would be a sure failure if I were to
try to explain a Wilderness trip's impact on a life. The combination of
exhaustion, community, absence of anything gadgety or electrical, feeling small
as the dangerous wonder of the Rocky Mountains engulfs you, and having time
alone to be vulnerable with God is an experience that can only be fully
understood in those that have actually experienced it. On a trip like this, one
has time to come face to face with struggles and insecurities while being with
God, away from all of the other things in life that beg and scream for our
attention, and learn how the God who is bigger than the mountains that surround
us wants to relate intimately with us. It's a unique experience. On the last
night, most of us slept outside of our tent under the blanket of stars that
filled the Colorado sky. Once again, feeling small, yet more significant and
loved than every star in the universe.
After 6 days on the trail, we met our
pick-up van that took us back to the ranch. We talked about what we took from
our experience and what we are leaving behind.
We all experienced God in a new way.
We then showered for the first time
in a week, and ended the week with a hot meal a Young Life Club, and ice cold
IBC root beers.
Last Saturday night, we pulled back
into Fayetteville exhausted, yet transformed, with a few more chest hairs to
prove it.
Signing off with love,
Carlyle Aguren
No comments:
Post a Comment