Hiking with my students...WT 2010

I am always amazed when I come back from Wilderness Trail by how much joy everyone of our students has after hiking 45 plus miles through the mountains of Virginia.  This trip is not a “fun” trip by any standards.  It is a hard trip.  But we all love it!  At least when we get off the trails.
It’s an experience that in my opinion makes you realize how good you really do have it.  You also realize that even if something is hard – that doesn’t make it bad and that you can still have fun.
I love watching the students come together in small groups as the body of Christ – they listen to each other, share food, wait for the slower hikers, encourage one another, try not to complain too much when it rains an entire day, push through even when the feet hurt, wonder how badly they actually do smell and attempt to figure it out, laugh as campfires are built, allow their feet to be washed by leaders and/or peers, see God all around them in mountains and meadows and at the end of their hike – they are changed.  Shoot, I am changed.
I have hiked these same trails with different students for the past 6 summers – and I come away stronger, humbled and in awe of how our amazing Father works in our lives.
I am so thankful to our church for allowing our students to experience God in such a unique way!
And I am thankful that the students hunger for the stillness and beauty of God’s presence that you find while hiking in the mountains.

Walkabout...

I woke up earlier than the others again - so I got ready for our hike and then explored the Blue Mountains YHA. They offer supplies to make breakfast for a pretty cheap price - but I already have oatmeal with me so that's what I made.

We drove over to the very accessible visitor center at the Three Sisters and took some pics and then started down the 800 steps of the Giant Stairway to the valley floor and were completely surround by about 20 other people heading down and up. It was a little overwhelming...the people that is. The views were as well. WOW. I understand why there are so many people here. Once we got about a quarter of the way down though - most of the people were heading back up. We only passed about 6 others that went all the way down or around. It is such a beautiful area and the air is crisp and their are birds calling all around us. We watched the Katoomba waterfall for awhile and then continued down the trail over to the worlds steepest Scenic Railway. Which I would have loved to pass up BUT Candis and AJ made me ride it up. It wasn't actually too bad. I am glad that we rode it up and not down. It was crazy steep. No really...it was quick too. So it was like a rollercoaster ride but just up.

There were some gentlemen from Japan that wanted Candis and me to get into a picture with them...so we did and they were on the railway in front of us - laughing and taking lots of pics. It was fun to watch.

Then we grabbed lunch at a cafe at the top and decided to drive about 40 kilometers over to the Jenolan Caves. We got there right after 3:00 p.m. so we were only able to join the 4:00 p.m. tour of the Temple of Baal Cave. We got some drinks and waited...there were these beautiful birds - that you can tell get fed a lot by people because of how comfortable they were with us right there - that I played with and chased.

Then the caves. This particular cave was found in 1904 and it has two chambers...our guide told us that two of the first people to tour the cave were Methodist Ministers. Most of the names of each of the formations had some sort of biblical reference. It was gorgeous. Our guide, Barry, has lived in the area for the past 40 years and truly loves what he does. He asked if any of us sing when we were in the larger chamber and no one stepped up to sing. So after everyone started leaving to go back to the first chamber - I waited behind(I was pretty nervous for some reason) and sang the first few lines of "Think of Me" from Phantom. It is so cool to sing in that kind of space. Barry wanted me to sing again later - but I didn't. He was pretty funny -
Candis took a pic of us. She will be posting those in a couple of days.

From there we drove back to Katoomba and ate dinner at a Thai restaurant. Both Candis and I are craving Thai Beef salad...so we had hoped to have it there. But they didn't have it.

I spent most of the evening trying to work on details of my trip to New Zealand. It's crazy how different it is from what I originally thought it would be. I am planning on sticking with the YHA - Hostels in New Zealand. They keep an eye on you and have lots of good and cheap info about what to do in the area.

Heading back to Sydney tomorrow! AJ will hang around Sydney and Candis will be going back to Memphis on Saturday. And I will head to New Zealand! I am super excited! And a little nervous to be on my own. But I am ready to process and pray and walk and see.

Give me eyes to see...

Monday, October 12th

I wake up early. No matter what. Earlier than the others with me, so I usually wait for awhile before I start getting ready for the day. I was going to run this morning but I decided not to because we are hiking in the Bald Mountain National Park...which should be a 3 hour hike total.

My left foot is still giving me problems - but the pain is on the top of my foot. This has happened before but it normall goes away eventually. Not now. After today's hike, I might take it easy for a couple of days and see what happens.

We ate breakfast at a mom & pop bakery - we all had meat pies with something different on top. Mine had tomatoes, cheese and bacon - not too bad!

The Bald Rock Mountain is supposedly the largest exposed granite monolith in the Southern hemisphere. We started our hike up with snacks and water. It was an easy hike up - mostly on a logging road. As we got to the top - we were hiking mostly on smoth granite rock. We again had a great view, there were lots of clouds but they just added to the beauty. We had hoped to see wildlife out here but all we saw were flies and a few birds.

Then. There are two ways to the summit.
1) long but easy (which we took up to the top)
2) short and harder - more of a rock climb

We tried to find the rock climb down. But honestly there were NO signs for it at the top. So Candis and AJ thought we could continue our hike dow the logging road - I mentioned that I wasn't comfortable with it but agreed to try. 45 minutes later we hadn't seen any signs - so I told them that I thought we should really turn around. I have been in this situation too many times before(you know, lost but you know exactly where you are) so we turned around. We were low on water and it was lunch time...Anyways, we got back fine, just hiked a lot longer than we planned.

I was super determined to not get discouraged - so my prayer the whole time was "give me eyes to see"...cause I can get so inward focused that I miss what's around me. (Still didn't see kangaroos though).

We washed our faces at a spigot near the carpark and then drove to a waterfall gorge - it was beautiful! There was also a HUGE dragon/lizard...pictures to come!

We spent the rest of the day driving south...we decided to go to the next town down for lunch - even though we were all pretty hungry - so around 3:30 in the small town of Deepwater...we stopped at a convenient store that served burgers and sandwiches. The owner is a delightful woman who has been in the area for about 4 years - her name is Sandra. She told us stories about her family and how she ended up in Deepwater. All I know is she makes a mean burger - it was possibly the best meal yet! We left stuffed.

In Glen Innes - there is a Celtic memorial to honor the Irish and how they helped Australia to become what it is today. They are standing stones...it is pretty cool. But weird because it isn't natural. And there are alllll sorts of amazing rocks standing all over the place. But we went and looked and enjoyed.

Further down the road as we passed through Glen Innes - we saw the Happy Strawberry. They make strawberry shakes, shortcake, jams and more. This place was recommended to us by Ulla. So we had to stop in! Candis and I split a shake and because I had asked about the Pavlova - the woman gave us a sample. It was a meringue with cream and strawberries. OH MY. I could have licked the plate! So good. No really. I want some more now.

Found out my hike in New Zealand was cancelled. So...I don't know what I am going to do in a couple of days. I think I am still heading to New Zealand but I don't know where I am going to hike. OH - and the weather in South Australia and New Zealand is cold enough to snow! hehe.

Tonight we are in a cabin at a YHA - in the town of Armidale. The home of the University of New England.

Australia - itinerary

It's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday. Friday just happens to be the day that I will board a plane which will take me to Memphis, where I will join Candis as we travel to Los Angeles and than all the way to Sydney, Australia. By the way, I will lose October 3rd completely because we will arrive in Sydney on Sunday, October 4th in the a.m. Candis will be with me until the 17th and then I will continue my travel on my own...

Just in case you are wondering where I will be for the next 30 days - here is what our itinerary is for right now:
Sunday, October 4th - Sydney
October 5th - Sydney
October 6th - Coffs Harbour
October 7th - Murwillumbah
October 8th - Brisbane
October 9th - Brisbane
October 10th - Brisbane
Sunday, October 11th - Surfers Paradise
October 12th - Tweed
October 13th - Byron Bay
October 14th - Newcastle
October 15th - Blue Mountains
October 16th - Sydney
October 17th - Candis heads to the US and I start the 2nd part of my adventure.

New Zealand!
Whew

Australia - for the love

So...I leave in little over a week. On another trip of a lifetime. Me.

Why? Cause two years ago while lying on a couch after foot surgery - I decided to ask our staff parish for permission to take a month off to hike. How did I know two years ago that I would need this month? I have been at THE "rockin" FUMC for almost five years as the Director of Youth Ministries...and honestly it has been such an incredible journey. But it has also been a hard journey. I lost a little of my center this year - my ability to KNOW that I am God's child. To hear his voice through the noises and distractions that I let in every single day.

I have been calling this trip my sabbatical. I looked up the definition for sabbatical and depending on which dictionary website I am on - I don't know if this word qualifies. BUT at dictionary.com - here is their definition for

Sabbatical

–adjective

1.	of or pertaining or appropriate to the Sabbath.

2.	of or pertaining to a sabbatical year.

3.	bringing a period of rest.

–noun

4.	SABBATICAL YEAR

5.	any extended period of leave from one's customary work, esp. for rest, to acquire new skills or training, etc.

So I'm taking a sabbatical - My month to travel and hike in Australia and New Zealand to play, be still, laugh and listen for God's voice.

I have learned that I hear God's voice most clearly as I am struggling up a mountain trail, with everything I need in my backpack, sucking down water as quickly as it is dripping off of me. No one else can help me in those moments...I have to take the steps myself...and when I stop to catch my breath - I look up. Look and listen and see. And I know. I know that I am so insignificant in so, so many ways. There is no way to feel significant when you are surrounded by trees and ridges that loom over. But God see me. He sees me...lost to human eyes...through the trees. He yearns for my heart. And I am filled.

I understand that I live in a culture where we celebrate progress and success and busyness. I don't know why we have to fight so hard to rest. To give ourselves permission to stop. It's like we are shamed when we admit that we are tired. Uh, people - we aren't made to go non-stop.

I am honored that my church is allowing me to rest. To take time for myself. I wish that this wasn't something we had to ask for.

Random interesting fact about Australia:
#1 ~ There is no place in Australia that has a distance of more than 1000 km(approximately 621 miles) from the sea.

Hiking AND being lazy...

I got to go hiking this morning.
In the snow.
With my mom, sister and her husband.
Life is good.

It does seem hard to fit everything that we care about into such short periods of time. Hmmmm...

Hiking in Japan???

I am planning a hike through Japan.

And it scares me a little bit.

Japan hasn't ever been on the top of my list of places to go. So I bet you are asking, "Why Japan?". Honestly, my friend Stephen mentioned it this summer as a place that he wanted to go and I said I would be up for researching a hike through Japan. I ordered Lonely Planet's book - "Hiking in Japan" for both of us and now I am so excited!!! I have been reading as much info about Japan's as possible: the country, the mountains, the people, the climate, the food, the history, the religion and the hiking. There is a huge hiking community in Japan! I had no idea. The country is beautiful!

As of right now we are planning to hike from the north down to the south in about 30 days - but I keep running into Parks or Mountains that I want to make sure I get to hike so I have no idea what the itinerary is right now.

Stephen and I don't live in the same location, so right now I am just trying to learn as much as I can about Japan and others that have hiking through Japan. I will put together an itinerary that sounds interesting to me and then send it to him to see if he likes it or if there is something else he wants to do.

I am determined to be more flexible about this hike then I was about the AT. I planned the itinerary for the AT hike but I ended up hiking it with 4 others, including my sister, Slickrock, and the itinerary changed constantly because we needed to adjust the schedule almost everyday. There isn't an official Japan thru-hike, so we can create whatever we want. My goal is to see and learn as much as I can but also to enjoy. Even if we don't get to all the places I want to go.

Let me know if you have any info about hiking in Japan. I would love to hear about it!

Info on Leah Spurlin's fall...from myspace

II am attaching an article from Troy's Messenger here about Leah "Ketchup" Spurlin - and also on her myspace page...and will be updating her page over the next couple of weeks till she can do it herself.

Leah Spurlin victim of wilderness accident at Yellowstone

By Jaine Treadwell, The Messenger

There is no place in the world that Leah Spurlin would rather be than Yellowstone National Park. That's where she feels that she belongs.

Even as she went into surgery Monday morning after suffering a 20-foot fall in the remote wilderness area northwest of Gardiner, Mont., she still said that's where she belongs.

This place has a real pull on Leah, her mother Olivia Spurlin said by telephone from Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman, Mont. Monday afternoon.

We can't see into the future but I don't think she is going to want to leave.

Spurlin has worked at the park for two previous summers and is employed with the National Forestry Service this summer. She was conducting an aspen survey near Canary Point when she fell 20-plus feet from a ledge.

They work in teams and Leah's team had split up to work the area, Spurlin said. Leah and the young man, who was working with her had cliffed in,' meaning that they had gone as far as they could go and could either go back the way they came or go down.

The two civil service workers decided to go down and, evidently, realizing how treacherous the descent would be, had talked about what they would do if either of them fell, Spurlin said.

Leah fell from the ledge and landed on her feet first, then on her seat and her back. The young man got to her and they realized that she was seriously hurt and could not be moved.

Leah's teammate tried to radio their base headquarters but the reception wasn't good and the base operator could only pick up bits and pieces of what he was saying. However, another teammate, who was working the area, could pick him up and relayed the message.

The accident happened around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and it took hours before initial help could reach Leah, who was lying bleeding and in severe pain in the remote wilderness area.

An Air Idaho helicopter flew in but was unable to land because of the terrain but dropped off an EMT who made her way to Leah by crawling through the dense area.

A rescue team got to the area near dusk but they brought sleeping bags and food because the team was not certified to do night rescues.

As night fell the temperature dropped to near 30 degrees.

The EMT was able to give Leah something for pain and she said after the pain eased, she was all right to stay the night, her mother said. By that time, about 10 people were there with her. They all expected that she would not be taken out until morning but the man she works for made arrangements somehow for an Air Force helicopter to come for her and a doctor came with it.

A board was lowered from the helicopter and Leah was placed on it. She was then put in a basket and lifted into the helicopter as it hovered in the black night of the remote mountain country.

When they got to Bozeman, the helicopter was too large to land at the hospital and had to land at the airport, Spurlin said. From there, Leah was transported to the hospital by ambulance.

At 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 18, more than 11 hours after the accident happened, Leah Spurlin was finally in the hospital.

Leah wouldn't let anyone call us until she was in the hospital, Spurlin said. So, we didn't know about the accident until about 7 o'clock Sunday morning when the emergency room doctor called. We thought it was Leah calling to wish her dad, Gary, happy Father's Day.

The Spurlins flew to Bozeman and arrived there about 11 p.m. Central Time on Sunday.

She had already undergone surgery on both of her feet, Spurlin said. The injury to her right foot left an open wound and the doctors said they needed to do surgery as soon as possible to prevent infection. It was badly twisted. The left foot is fractured but the injury is not as bad as the right foot.

A second surgery was required on Monday for a back injury.

The Spurlins had been told that the surgery would take about four hours but it ran longer.

About 6 p.m. Center Time, Leah was out of surgery and doing well, her mother said.

She lost a lot of blood during surgery and had to have a transfusion but the doctors had told us that might happen, Spurlin said. The doctors fused a fractured vertebrae and said she might have some slight loss of mobility from that.

Leah will be hospitalized for about a week and then will need 24-hour care for about a week, followed by about five months of rehabilitation.

No matter what the time frame of her recovery, her mom said the accident has not and will not loosen the pull that Yellowstone has on her daughter.

It's a wilderness area and accidents happen all of the time, she said. Leah knows that and she still loves this place.

Hiking in South Dakota