by
Katherine Finn
So
like two weeks ago, my friend cassie told me
about this backpacking trip with the youth ministry
called trails of faith. it sounded really neat,
so i signed up. i knew jacob, cassie, and lisa
huber and that was it. so i was like, 'okay,
i'll go on a 10 mile hike with a massive backpack
only knowing 3 people.' yeah not my usual idea
of fun. then i was talking to kevin via im and
learned that i'd be pooping in holes. (yeah
i didn't make that connection, i guess i assumed
they'd have bathrooms somewhere?) 'whoa,' im
thinking, 'im gonna be pooping in HOLES? what
in the world did i get myself into?' but being
the adventurous gal i am, i was like yeah i'll
get through it. so as far as i knew, id be pooping
in holes, wearing one outfit for 3 days, and
not showering for 3 days (gasp). joy.
what i didnt realize, was that i was about to
have the best expirence of my life. we left
after school on friday and started our 45 minute
van ride. that was some crazy stuff. we played
'slug bug cow' etc. kevin got pretty into it
(well so did i) but it was great. there's nothing
like a car ride to get to know complete strangers!!
soon i was joking around with guys i had never
met before in my life. it was great. so we got
to the campground where we were gonna be backpacking.
we said a prayer, got free walking sticks (yessss!)
and headed out into the woods. it was getting
dark by this time, and not 10 minutes into the
woods, we got 'temporarily displaced'. i was
thinking, great, just greeaat. i was cold, hungry,
and already tired from my long school day. finally
we got on the right trail and crossed a creek
in complete darkness. after like an hour or
so of hiking, we found our campsite where we'd
be 'staying' that night. a tornado had pretty
much destroyed it. but it was still managable.
we cooked our food (chicken fahitas~they were
AMAZING) and jacob about blew us up trying to
work his fancy smancy camp stove. we set up
our tent (took cassie and i awhile, it was dark,
okay!?!) and we finally got the poles in the
right tent holes. it was freezing when we got
to sleep, like 28 degrees. still, it was so
much fun, and i was already begining to realize
how great this trip was gonna be.
we woke up at 6:30am on saturday, had oatmeal
and hot chocolate for breakfast (sounds nasty,
but it was really really really good) then cassie
and i broke down our tent. it was easy until
we tryed to get the tent in the bag. that was
impossable. so we did the only thing we could
do, beg lisa to come save our sorry butts. so
she comes and rescues us and we set out on the
trail. we crossed like dozens of streams ( i
did not fall in once!!) and we hiked 8 miles
that day. there were a LOT of hills to climb,
but matt, cassie, kevin, and i distracted ourselves
with some games. that got interesting... haha.
(robin's DEAD!) soo 8 miles and some seriously
sore backs, we got to our 2nd campsite. it was
gorgeous. we were like on the edge of this cliff
overlooking this really really big lake. we
set up camp (its sooo much easier in the light),
and had a scavenger hunt and played jepordy.
my team should have won, but cassie got all
evil mathimatician on us and beat us by a point.
we ate dinner, and just hung out, telling jokes
and talking about the day. finally we went to
bed, after teasing paul about POOP! and standing
around the fire for a while. it wasnt as cold
that night.
we got up the next morning at 6am, broke down
camp, ate a poptart, and were hiking by 7am.it
was a little early to be climbing mountains
but still. we finally made it back to civilization
and went to church. in our socks. haha it was
funny cause we looked/smelled awful. then we
crashed mcdonalds and ate bunches. good stuff
right there.
all in all, this has been the best weekend of
my life. i got to meet sooo many new friends,
kevin, matt, paul/aiden, paul, drew, nichole,
and jennifer. plus people im sure i forgot.
plus, i got to meet them and see the real person
that they are. we couldnt judge by apperences
since we all looked like crap so i was able
to really be myself around them. it was absolutely
GORGEOUS out there in the woods so that was
amazing to really see the world in a new way,
and realize how much i take for granted. when
you're out there with pretty much one outfit,
a sleeping bad and tent, water, food, and a
toothbrush, you realize how much you really
dont need in life. how much crap you think is
important, but its really not. like showers.
kidding. and i realized who i really miss, which
people i can count on and love me for who i
am.
i have not laughed so hard, for so long, in
so little time. it seemed like i was laughing
the entire time and thats always great.
Katherine
is a Sophomore at Providence High School and
a member of St. John Starlight parish.
If
you would like to sign up for the October 2007
Trails of Faith, visit our youth
events page to get more information and
a brochure.
