Four Day Winter Camping Experience

Hello LIFT followers!

Wow! What a week I had, and I will need to catch you all up with everything I have been doing this past week!

This week was our four day winter camping experience in the high peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. It was a tremendous trek, and a great escape from living a regular lifestyle.

Tuesday morning we left and drove about an hour and a half to two hours northbound towards Keene Valley to our trailhead. We all had approximately 40 pound backpacks on our backs which included our food for four days, sleeping bag, sleeping mats, extra supplies of clothes, water bottles, and any extra cookware we may need. After about 2 and a half to 3 hours hiking into the woods, we reached our camping location. The men were designated to sleep in a lean-to the first night, and the ladies were given a larger cabin (Peggie O'Brien) with bunk beds, a kitchen and an outhouse. Talk about living big out in the wilderness!

After everyone was settled into their sleeping locations, we had a quick meal which we brought in, and the started out on our first hike up to Big Slide, one of the peaks of the Adirondacks. The views were beautiful, and the day was absolutely gorgeous on the way up and the way down. The hike up was approximately 2.3 miles, so it wasn't too hard. I had several great conversations on the way up, which made the time go by a little faster as well. We had some great picture taking opportunities at the top, and the temperature was great. We must have hung out on the summit of Big Slide for about a half hour until we descended from it. We had a great view of this other peak straight across from us, called Gothics, and our monster we were climbing the next day: Mount Marcy. We hiked back down, which most of the time we found great fun in by sliding down the trail on our butts. Hence the name of the mountain: Big Slide! :) We got back to camp, and we cooked some great pasta for our dinner at Peggie O'Brien. We shoved it down, and went to bed. And boy, was it cold that night! Surrounded by lots of people who snored, and the super cold air and wind of the mountains did not help. I might have gotten in one or two hours of sleep, but that was probably about it. But hey, sleep is sleep in a lean-to. I'll take it.

Wednesday: We woke up, after our sleep (or lack there of), at about 5:00 AM. We all went to Peggie O'Brien for a quick oatmeal breakfast, Matins, and then our group was the first to hit the trail towards Mt. Marcy. We split our group of 21 into two groups, due to Adirondack Wilderness law, you are not allowed to hike in groups larger than 15. We had to leave three behind at Peggie O'Brien due to injuries and soreness, so they were greatly missed. So, we were on the trail at about 6:15 AM. God really blessed us with another great morning to hike. Our group really bonded well, and we saw some beautiful views on the way up. We stopped frequently for water breaks and snack breaks, or whenever someone's snowshoe came undone (like mine), or whenever we had to de-layer due to sweating. At about 9:30 AM we were nearing the summit of Marcy, and we stopped to eat our lunch just below it. It had gotten windier, and the tempeture had dropped quite a bit. I pulled out my goggles, and got ready to ascend to the highest peak in the Adirondacks. Our ascent began, and we started heading for the summit. The winds began picking up, starting at about 15 miles per hour. As we climbed a larger face towards the peak, the wind gusts were pushing hard against us at an easy 25-30 miles per hour. I had some troubles trying to pull myself up the mountain, but God truly gave me the strenth to overcome that. At about 10:13 AM we hit the summit of Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York. Winds had picked up to speeds of gale winds (approx 40 miles per hour). The views around us were spectacular, and you could truly see for miles upon miles, 360 degrees on the top. What was neat was that you could lean into the 40 mph winds, and let yourself go, and let the wind balance you on the summit. It was so amazing to feel God's power and God's strength up there on the peak. We did it. We made it. We stood up there in awe for about 10 minutes maximum, and started our descent back to the bottom. We ran into the second group on the way down, and shared in our amazing experience at the top, and handed over extra layers, goggles, gloves we thought they would need to summit the peak in the high winds. Our hike back was wonderful. Hiking downhill is always nice - easy on the legs. We had many great photo opportunities on the way down, and we got to play and frolic in the tree-lines and in the snow along the paths on the way back, or just merely slide down steep trails on our butts, which is amazingly fun when there are lots of turns in the trail too on the way down. We hiked along a river back to camp, and got to see many awesome ice formations, waterfalls, and ice slides. Our group arrived back at camp just before the snow started, and we all got inside to warm up, and get some more calories back into our bodies. About an hour later, the second group arrived, and we greeted them with hugs, high fives, and warm smiles. We were a little concerned they were lost out there in the snowfall, but it was great to see them home safe and sound. Our second dinner meal was another pasta meal, and then we had one of our team members share her testimony with the group, and then we headed to bed. I, along with three other guys slept inside the lodge the second night to attempt to catch up on a better night sleep for the following day. Praise the Lord for a great, amazing, and spectacular day of hiking, fellowship, and experiencing God in power, might, and strenth.

Thursday: Our sabbath rest. Thursday was our free day, and we were free to take small hikes if we wanted to, or explore the area. Most of the group wanted to build quincys, which are similar to igloos. After breakfast and an awesome worship service, we all cleaned up Peggie O'Brien, and moved all our stuff out to a couple lean-to's. We all got a crash course lesson from Tim Trezise on how to build a quincy, so we started the girl's qunicy (AKA: The Taj Mahal) which ended up holding approximately six girls inside. The guy's quincy (AKA: The Sonju) was a two room quincy, which held about six guys in one room, and about three or four guys in the other room. So that is how many of us spent our Thursday: building a big mound of snow, stomping it down and making it pack, let it harden for about two hours, sending in three or four "moles" to dig out the quincy and sleeping areas, and staying warm after. We all had a nice outdoor dinner of macaroni and cheese on Thursday night. Boy, was it cold out that night! We indeed wanted to "shove it down and go to bed". Quincys are about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than an outside lean-to or tent, which made the temperature factor much better, and the sleeping conditions much more bearable. At about 3 or 4 AM, my feet got pretty cold, so I had to pull them up closer to my body, but I had a much better sleep than the first night, so the quincy was an overall success.

Friday: A brisk morning this morning with several cold hands and cold feet (but we all survived and got warm on the trail or by layering up!), and we had a good Matin's this morning with prayers of thanksgiving for the great week we had in the mountains. Some people had a quick dose of oatmeal before we hit the trail back to the vans. The hike back was pretty quick and easy (about an hour and a half). The four day camping was a great success, and it helped so many experience God in a whole new radical way, including myself.

Let us adore the everliving God
And render praise unto Him,
Who spread out the heavens
And establishes the earth.
And whose glory
Is manifested throughout all the earth.
He is our God, He is our God.
There is no one else.