Saturday My LB and I went on a 21 mile and 13 hour adventure of a life time. It was long, hard, scary, challenging, physically and emotionally draining and full of the beauties of creation. Am I sorry I went, "no way"! I needed this trip more than I needed an unplanned vacation to the beach. Would I ever do it again, "NO WAY"!
Sycamore Canyon is absolutely beautifully deceiving. When you first get into the canyon it takes your breath away with all of the beauty. (I guess I may have stopped and taken a few too many pictures). I love the outdoors and this was an absolute treat to witness such amazing sights.
The beauty of the green surroundings and the blue of the water lasted for about 4 out of the 21 miles. After this the trail turned into a VERY rocky creek bed and we spent the next 7 miles walking, hopping, stumbling and tripping over rocks in the heat of full sun. I never imagined that this could cause so much discomfort. My toes continually hit the front of my shoes (my toenails still ache), rocks would flip up and scrape my ankle bones (they are still bandaged), and my hip (the same one that hurt from carrying babies) started to ache something fierce. Yet there was still so much beauty inside the canyon. There were huge rocks that were magically transformed by water running through the streams wearing them down to look like grand sculptures. And the erosion of the canyon walls made the sights all around you magnificent to take in.
Still we wanted out of the rocks! So hello, short cut anyone? Of course the idea of cutting 3 miles off of the trip and getting out of the rocks was alluring. We found a place that looked like we could scale up to the trail without walking around. As we went into the cove to climb the rocks up we entered a mosquito nest and they were all over us. I could not believe how many there were. I quickly threw on my long sleeve shirt and put my hood on. It didn't take long to decide that this was not a good option. However, going back into the rocks was not a favorable option either. So we found a different place to go up.
It was a bit steeper but free of mosquito's. Which seemed great until we heard the rattle snake. It is a very creepy sound they make and as soon as I heard it I turned back down to Jeremiah fast (Matthew later warned me that I should have gone slow because Rattle Snakes can strike distances up to three times their length, know it all). I followed Jeremiah very closely passing by the rattling sound that seemed to be very close but we could not see it, CREEPY.
When we finally got to the top I was informed that the trail was actually located at the top of the plateau next to the one we were standing on, AHHHHH. Never fear Mr. GPS let us know that we could meet up with the trail by heading some direction (don't ask me). So we made our own trail through what became dessert terrain (not so pretty). It took some time to overcome the rattle snake fear but I got over it pretty quick when we realized we were VERY short on water. We were only a little over half way through the trip and we were short on water. We started the little sip, swish and make it last with 9 miles to go to the end.
We were headed in the right direction for the trail when we hit a wall, a rock wall. So hands first and then feet we scaled the wall and made it to the trail. That stinking elusive lightly traveled trail. When we hit the trail I was in awe at how fast the men were hiking, it was truly amazing. I began to understand why they didn't think the hike would take more than 7 to 8 hours. I kept up though determined to get this hike behind me.
The trail was a big fat stinker and kept forking off and heading in different directions. Of course we lost the trail a few times and ended up taking time to find it again. After another 5 miles or so of hiking it started to get dark and we had between the three of us a few swallows of water, three handfuls of grapes and one flashlight. So when we hit the highest point of our trip and only had about 4 to 5 miles to go to get down we stopped drank the water, ate the grapes and prepared ourselves for the journey back down into the canyon and out. Only we lost the trail again.
Now we are at the top of a canyon wall needing to go down with no trail and surrounded by straight drops down to the canyon below with bodies that needed water. The only way we would make it down would be to find the trail. After about 40 plus minutes of looking for the trail we decided to say a prayer to our Heavenly Father to help guide us out of the canyon. Now Jeremiah who told me he was 100% sure we would make it to the car got teary eyed as he prayed (not a good sign, but since I don't know anything about GPS or directions for that matter I just had to trust and have faith). We decided to rethink our process and start off again. Jeremiah was in the front with the GPS following the contours of the trail, Jeff was behind him with the head lamp and I was standing as close to Jeff as I could.
To explain the pain our bodies were in at this time and give you the best idea of how we felt I will say this; we had cacti in our hands and legs, blisters on our feet and bruises and scratches that we didn't even know about until we got back to our vehicle (shoot now you know the ending).
So now we had our new plan and we were following Jeremiah who to the best of his ability was following the contours of the trail on the GPS. This led us to a drop that was about 5 to 6 ft down instead of , well all the way down the canyon. So Jeff went first and I used his leg as step to get down and then I held to the rock so not to drop down again while Jeremiah came down behind me (after he handed the dog down, I didn't mention there was a dog, there was a dog). So now on my behind I scooted down another 4 to 6 ft until I got to where I could actually stand.
Now this is where the goodness of our Heavenly Father comes into play and our faith and hope strengthen. As I began to walk I looked down and noticed we were on the trail. It was a an amazing feeling to know that in the middle of the night in a canyon in Arizona our Heavenly Father heard and answered the prayers of three lost souls. We stopped offered our gratitude and started the steady decent on the trail. Again those men can really roll when they have a trail.
Just like before the trail would fork and you had to choose which way to go. Only this time I was NOT going to get off of the trail and I would not keep walking until we tested each route with the GPS and found the one that we should take. We followed the trail down, down, down until we were at the creek again and it told us to cross. So we crossed the water up to our knees and splashed our faces and our heads, it felt so good! The dog was SO happy!
After we crossed the water and found the trail we realized that we had to go up, up, up to get to the Suburban. BIG UP, STRAIGHT UP, LIKE STAIRS! I wanted out! The wetness of my feet opened all of my blisters so I started to feel them for the first time, MY LB was hurting from dehydration and we knew that the Suburban had sports drinks, water and ice. So we pulled together one more time and started up for the last time before we reached hiking freedom.
When I reached the top I plopped down on the last step and just sat, we did it. 13 hours later and we finally did it. MY LB gave me a kiss when he past me and I just wanted to curl up in his arms and cuddle. We made it!!
It has been so long since I have felt this kind of emotional and physical discomfort. It has also been a long time since I have felt the Lords hand in my life so strongly. It is an amazing thing adversity, how it changes your outlook and gives you a new glance at your life. I am so blessed, what an ignorant person I have been.
This experience makes me think of a quote from a book that I read recently. The book was actually a commencement speech for College Graduates. The author (sorry not sure) gave a brief description of people complaining about their lives, about modern comforts and about wanting and needing more and she said this, "COME ON, look around we are surrounded by an embarrassment of riches." I know she was talking about financial wealth but I spin it this direction for me.......
Our house is worth way less then we owe, my husbands job is going to keep us in Arizona forever, it's hot and I just want to be outside, keeping up with the house is just too much work, raising four kids with respect and work ethics is sucking the life out of me, I just want time for me, Dave Ramsey's financial prison I mean freedom is making me CRAZY, I need I mean want to buy paint for the front room, our Scout callings are challenging and time consuming, I have on some kind of friend repellent lately, the gifted program at the school stinks...........
"COME ON, look around you are surrounded by an embarrassment of blessings"
What a hard yet valuable lesson that I learned. A wake up call! Believe it or not I never cried, nope not at all. UNTIL, on the way to school Monday I had a rush of emotion and I looked at my kids and I just started to cry and I wanted to take them home and never let them leave my sight. I couldn't believe it! The emotions were so strong and I kissed them goodbye and I cried all the way home. I don't know why all of the sudden the emotions hit me like that (maybe because the body pain decreased a LITTLE). But I do know that I am seeing things differently and I hope that it lasts because a REALITY CHECK the hard way STINKS.
Count Your Many Blessings
Name Them One By One
Count Your Many Blessings
See What God Hath Done
