When my co-worker Sherry called, at the beginning of July, to ask if I would like to go hiking with her (we have gone hiking quite a few times before and have had a wonderful time) so I was excited. Well, as you will soon read, this time would prove to be quite different.
Sherry informed me that she had a certain hiking trail in mind that she would like to do but that it would be quite long (roughly a 5 hour hike. No biggie, right?). I told her that it sounded great----
So, after deciding on a day and time (Thursday, July 30
th), I calendared the event and waited with anticipation. On Wednesday, I got a voice message from Sherry inquiring if I was still planning on hiking the following day. I immediately called her back and said, "YES! I am planning on going!" I told her this was something I was really looking forward to....a break--if you will from my life--since all I have really done since my marriage is:
You are more than welcome to skip over the venting :-) It just felt good to type it out!
1. Move items out of my grandparents' home,
2. Make a bigger mess out of our condo as I unload more boxes and items brought from grandparents,
3. Work,
4. Tutor,
5. Get insurances and other legal items done (although I am still Miss
Winward since I haven't had the chance to go stand in the S.S. line to have my name changed---UGH),
6. Make a bigger mess in my classroom----with the intention of organizing my files--which hasn't worked----,
7. Get called to the nursery and realize that it is nothing like the classroom---and wondering how I am going to make it through each week with the lack of "structure" that I am use to,
8. Finally: try not to have a nervous break down when realizing school is starting in about 2 week and nothing is in order
:-$
Sherry was elated that I wasn't planning on backing out. She again reiterates to me that this was going to be a long hike--about 5 hours. I assure her, that even though I hadn't really done ANY major physical activity since my marriage (due to the above items), that I would be fine. I figure that since I was able, in my 20s, to run with Cynthia (my brother's wife) on the spur of the moment 11.5 miles and make it--I could do anything.....DUMB THOUGHT PROCESSING!!! First off, I am not in my 20s anymore, second I have major back and neck problems now, & third I had no idea what was really going to happen......can you tell by now that this isn't going to go as we planned?!?!
So Thursday, after tutoring, I kissed Shay goodbye and took off to Sherry's home. We met up and parked my car up on the Alpine canyon side then took Sherry's car up the American Fork Canyon to start this hike....Sherry and I were so excited! As we drove up to the American Fork side to park Sherry's car, she proceeds to inform me that there are two hiking trails that start out on the same trail head (starting point), one is Box Elder and the other is---honestly I don't even remember what she called it---but that eventually they would split off from one another and that we will have to watch really carefully not to miss the split to ensure we don't continue on the Box Elder Trail. She informs me that there is NO way we are going on the Box Elder trail and continues to describe to me all the awful things about the Box Elder Trail, how it is a very steep trail, how EXTREMELY long it is, etc........I am sure you already know what happens.....but I will continue.
So off we go with smiles on our faces. We started out on the "Box Elder .044" trail head (which, we thought, was suppose to be a "duel trail head"---why didn't that ring a bell in either of our heads---WHO KNOWS!!!!!). Sherry reiterates that she will never do that trail. I quickly become aware of how immediate the incline hits (meaning the first step). Not only is the trail "San Francisco street steep" but there is no let up....no leveling off. Luckily for me, Sherry asks if we could stop and take a breather (I was leading and felt an obligation to keep the pace going). We hike at least 2 miles straight up before there was the slight change in the incline. The switchbacks were tight and steep as well......which wasn't that bad because we were enjoying the vegetation found on the trial (when we could actually looked up from the ground---it is really hard to look up when the trail is that steep).
FYI: Since Utah has had such a wet spring, the mountains are COVERED with beautiful flowers and shrubbery! So at this point in our hike, I was utterly enjoying my conversation with Sherry and felt no dismay at the physical hardship this trail required, in fact I joked with Sherry about how much I needed a good workout and how great it felt!
When we then get to a fork in the trail.....of course the trail sign has two arrows.....one indicating the way on the "Box Elder Trail" and the other a name that was not the name of the trail we were looking for.....so we thought that we still had a ways to go. By this time, Sherry informed me that we had gone 4.5 miles in less than an hour and a half (which we were really excited about because of the incline of the trail), and that her friend told her it would take us at least 3 hours just to get to the top of the peak and we were already, what seemed to be, more than 2/3s up the mountain. So, we patted ourselves on the back and congratulated each other on our speed. We then continued on the "Box Elder Trail" thinking we were heading towards another fork in the path which would flip us onto a shorter, easier trail. Well, when the trail ran us into a small glacier that would require us to cross and then proceed up "Box Elder" we started to realize that we had missed the fork. Sherry tells me that we don't want to walk over the glacier (since there were holes throughout and that it probably wasn't solid), and that it only leads us towards the Box Elder Mountain--which was on the left of the glacier. So we stared at the mountains for a moment and then come up with a not so brilliant plan. Sherry knew that we needed to be on a trail to the right of us (but at this point the only things to our right were cliffs heading straight up)....so we thought, why don't we follow this river/stream up the mountain, blazing our own trail, in hopes to hook up with the trail--we somehow missed to the right.
As we start (and while rocks are moving out from under my feet), I think to myself---every hiker knows you don't leave a trail and blaze your own.....but do I listen to myself---NO! I then start to think about how this is just like a seminary video---hikers deciding they are smarter and going to make their own way.....does this thought shake me--NO! Boy, am I slow at times!!! I rationalize that I am with Sherry (please keep in mind that Sherry is a bit older than me--about my mother's age---who knows these mountains like the back of her hands). I knew she knew where the trail was suppose to be and since we missed it I was sure we would be able to quickly cross over to the right and hook up with it---just as soon as it leveled off somewhere.......
Well, after about an hour of trying to find a leveled off area and only seeing animal trails, we both decided that we had better just go back down to where we left the trail. At this point it was getting too steep (we both were slipping more and more frequently) and that we couldn't hold onto the loose rocks and pull ourselves up anymore without the fear of falling. So we hiked/slid back down to where we started.....except on the way back down we were smart enough to find a crossing over the stream so that at least we didn't have to walk on top of the glacier with holes.....that is until we walked about 200 feet farther on the trail and ran into a different glacier we would have to cross. Sherry volunteered me to go first--to make sure the ice would hold---since I am the heavier of the two---GREAT! I literally had to scooted myself over the top of the ice...as I am doing so the ice became too slippery and I found myself sliding quickly over the glacier's edge---luckily it was only a few feet down into the water. I quickly jumped up to where the trail continued and helped coach Sherry over. I then realize (I don't think we wanted to admit it to each other) that we were on our way over "BOX ELDER!!!" We talked about how at the end of our hike we would be so glad we were able to tackle this mountain!
The trial continued to be extremely steep. Sherry had asked several times throughout our hike if I thought we should go back---but I couldn't bring myself to saying yes.......first of all, because I "knew" that it had to be shorter to hike forward than to go back---and secondly, I already knew what the trail was like behind us and was not willing to subject myself to it again. But, when we did finally get --to what we thought was-- the top of the trail and were able to see the north/east side of
Timp, Utah Lake and part of American Fork, we were glad we had come that far! We congratulated ourselves for actually making it.....since at this point I was really starting to wonder if I was going to make it or not! We decided we needed to sit down and enjoy the view. We ate a snack and chatted. It was BEAUTIFUL! I haven't seen the mountains that green and full of flowers before! I truly was grateful that I had come on the hike.
Once we decided to continue on our hike, we quickly realized that we had celebrated too soon! We found ourselves walking across the side of Box Elder Mountain on loose rocks---with cliffs heading straight down. I jokingly told Sherry there was no falling! Sherry joked how we had celebrated way too soon and that we hadn't actually made it to the top of the trail that would lead us back down to the Alpine side.....but that the trail was still going up (I wasn't laughing too hard at this point!). When we would stop to take a break, my legs would shake underneath me. My feet started to stiffen as I pushed them firmly into the loose rocks and clenched them tight inside my shoes as I shifted my weight between the two of them. For the first time in my life I really wonder if my body was going to make it to the end. I started having visions of the marathon runners whose legs give out on them.....(obviously I am a bit dramatic).
I then realized my negative thinking and pushed all those thoughts out of my head and said a quick prayer and then focused on the trail in front of me. Which was the perfect thing to do because just a few minutes later the trail finally leveled out and starts to head down towards the Alpine side of Box Elder.
Yippy! I celebrated in my head! Sherry then points out a very large area of dirt that was obviously a bedding area for some HUGE animal. I had noticed a fresh deer's jaw a few hundred yards before this area and had shown Sherry. I then began to notice (as we continued) fresh bones along the path---but refuse to inform Sherry. I quickly offer a prayer up to my maker to let Him know that my cell phone has no reception, that Sherry and I were on the wrong trail (therefore no one really knows where we are at), that there is something in the area that is eating deer......and that would He please watch out for us. After that, I decided again to focus on the trail and the beauty around me! The plants and flowers are as high as our heads and shoulders. We are literally having to push our way through some areas. It was breathtaking.....
that is until we descend into a valley area only to find that the trail ended---YES, ENDED!!!!! I can see fresh deer bones, with fresh meat attached, on the ground. We have no idea which way we are to go! We head South-West in the direction we think could be a switch back....only to find hunters trash on the ground and a dead end. We backtrack and go directly west to no avail! By this time, I am really chatting with God, letting Him know there is no way I would be able to make it back the way we came....that we need to get out of this area and that could He please help Sherry spot the trail (Sherry was thinking aloud about how the trail should be this way or that....due to the map she had looked at before we left). Luckily, God always hears prayers because Sherry said, "Should we try this deer trail?" It really didn't look like a trail at all, only that maybe a deer had walked that way--but I said sure. We walked and walked and walked (like the pioneer children). We then realize that we are on a trail! Relief and gratitude filled my heart! Sherry lightly said, "Did you say a little prayer, I did?! I told her "NO"...that "I said a BIG prayer that you would find the trail." ;-) I really was honestly scared that we might not find our way down or that something might find us instead. We then had to walk all the way down Box Elder Mountain. The whole time Sherry is saying how she DIDN'T want to do this hike because she knew how hard it was but that she was grateful that she did it. I had to agree with her. There were many life lessons I learned while hiking that day and hope to remember them throughout my life.
Here are just a few that came during the hike:
1. When we were going back down the glacier area (to go back to where we had left the trial), Sherry and I discussed how that even though the trail may look harder....it is better to follow the trail then to try to make your own trail. We related it to life. That when we try to skip the "hard things" and try to make our own "easier path" we find ourselves just like Sherry and I were doing, having to backtrack and still having to attack the "harder trail!" We talked about how important it is to face your problems dead on and trust in the end it will be better to have "followed the trail."
2. When we stopped to look out over Utah Lake and
Timp Mtn., I told Sherry isn't it funny that we can look up at a mountain and see almost everything.....see exactly where you want to go and basically how you are going to do it.....and when you get to the top of the mountain you can basically see down on everything as well.....yet, when you are on the actual trail your vision becomes limited at times.....trees get in the way, rocks cover the path, one can't always see the start or the end. There are distractions, things that skew your view. I thought aloud about how that is just like life......before we came to this earth we looked at earth life and were excited (like Sherry and I going hiking). We knew where we wanted to go and how we were going to do it. Yet when we get "on the trial" (actually living our lives) we sometimes can't see the end &/or the beginning. We have second thoughts....we at times feel lost, or forget to follow the "hiking rules" (like blazing your own trail), or get tired, or want to give up....but in the end (when we die) we will be on the "top of the mountain" and be able look back over our lives, like we are looking over the valley, and evaluate where we started and how we did. It was an overwhelming thought that came and made me think deeply about my life.
3. I learned how much I love Shay--WEIRD I KNOW.....but as I was frantically wondering about what animal could possibly have nested under the grove of trees.....that was probably the one who ate the deers.....that was somewhere around.....I realized that my desire was to have more time with Shay and that God had to ensure my safe return home so that I would have more time to spend with him. I became "homesick" for Shay. A feeling I have never experienced before....not because I was scared or worried, but because I love Shay and had only a desire to be beside him at that moment.
4. I also learned again how easy it is to talk to God when one is in trouble and how He does answer prayers in a variety of ways. That day He helped Sherry find the "deer trail" and to calm my heart when it became flighty. How grateful I am to Him!
Life can teach you some very interesting and life changing lessons on a mountain top.......if one is wanting to listen and learn. I am so grateful to Sherry for inviting me on a 5 hour hike--that ended up being 14.5 miles (mostly straight up and down) and 7.5 hours long! I am so grateful for her insights, companionship and friendship. I am also so grateful to my Maker for making such a beautiful place and for providing learning opportunities for me amids "my struggles." May I never forget them!
