Three words: Camping. Canoeing. Hiking.

September 15-21,2012

   
This semester I had the opportunity to choose to go on a wilderness trip for an elective and get three credits for it at school. Well after much going back and forth about it I decided I would do it. Funny thing is all through high school and beginning of college I promised that I would NEVER go on one of those trips….funny how these things happen!

So I just wanted to write a little bit about the trip and some lessons I learned from it. To start off I want to tell you that I have never really gone camping before, never canoed for long periods of time, and never really enjoyed hiking. So this trip is REALLY out of my comfort zone but I was up for the challenge right up until we actually got to the lake…but I will get to that in a bit. We had 6 people in our group: Wes Scott, Kellie Konzelman, Teresa Beachy, Melita, and Zac Bickel. What a crew!

Saturday and Sunday we were in sessions all day. They were so encouraging and uplifting and I knew exactly why God had me there. We were talking all about tensions and experiences we have gone through and how we need to process through them and really examine what we could/should learn from those experiences. Things that I have never truly dealt with in my life kept coming up and I knew that God wanted me to deal with them so that I could truly be a better leader, friend, daughter, sister, and so on. Well Satan definitely was tempting me and wanting me to be mad that I was there because I did not want to deal with those things.  So right from the start I knew this was going to be a stretching trip. We also slept in tents for those two nights and I thought I was going to DIE! It was freezing and when I work up Sunday morning there was ice on the ground and tent. I then began to get mad that I even went on the trip.

Monday: Well Monday morning rolled around and we had our first taste of what a morning in the wilderness was going to be like. We took down our tent packed them up in our HUGE HEAVY (50+ pound) bags! Ate a cup of oatmeal and hit the road. We got to Canoe Lake an 1 ½ later and as they were teaching us how to pick up the canoe we were standing in the lake and they began to tell us who are  canoe partners were and then they said “oh and Katlyn you are leading us today”…and I  was like “umm what does that mean” and they began to tell me that I had to tell them how to get to the campsite and be in charge for the whole day! I got sooo angry. I wanted to yell and say “ I have NO idea how to camp, canoe, hike or do any of this stuff..why are you picking me to be the leader?!”  but I instead I just did not say a word!  I was just so frustrated. So we began canoeing and come to find out I take us THE longest route. The positive side of that is we got to see a moose like right next to us! The first portage (carrying the canoe through the woods) I did I thought I was going to die. I had pain shooting from my neck to my toes. It was insane! A lot of times we would have to get out of the boat because the water was too shallow and walk and at one point…somehow a frog got inside the bottom of my pants, that was a freaky experience haha! After a long hard day we got to camp and ate a nice hot meal around the campfire. The stars were beautiful and we all slept like babies because of the pure exhaustion setting in from the day.

Tuesday: We get up Tuesday morning and it is raining. Well from the start I knew it was going to be a long day. Wes was in charge that day and wanted us to take the longer route for a challenge. (In my opinion the shortest route was always the best option)  We start off that day and my canoe partner was Melita (who is an absolute beast at the wilderness stuff)  We had a lot of down pours and white topped waves. One canoe tipped over as we tried to “shoot” the rapids. Which was hilarious at the moment but ten minutes later it began to storm even worse and at one point we  could hardly see the other canoes. As we were in the worst of the storm, when I could not feel any part of my body, my hands were purple, and my whole body was shivering and shaking,  the girl (Melita) who I was canoeing with turns around and yells to me, “Katlyn, We are like Peter and the disciples!!!!” haha I wanted to yell back but I could barely even think let alone speak. she was so excited! All of that to say we were out in the storm for about twelve hours. We got to camp and I could barely move. I was hurting and freezing! We, as in the boys, got a fire going and set up camp which Melita helped us A LOT and every few minutes the group leaders would tell us to not stop shivering…I wanted  to tell them that it was not the most encouraging thing ever seeing as I wasn’t controlling my shivering one bit. (Basically when or if your body stops shivering it means your body is shutting down) Well later that night we were told that we were in Ideal HYPOTHERMIA conditions!  So Kellie and I got smart and put our sleeping bags together so we had more body heat! Otherwise we would have froze.

Wednesday: Wednesday was our “solo day”. It was still really cold but it was at least semi sunny! I found a nice place on a rock overlooking the water and bundled up and just spent some quality time with just God, me, and nature! IT was a wonderful day and I enjoyed being able to think through and process through things I have NEVER processed through before. As I returned from day being a lone we were all suppose to start breaking wood and well to say the least there were quite a few mishaps! Here is a video to show you just one of the mishaps…(you can skip to 5:45 mark in the video!) 

 

Thursday: Thursday was our longest distance but our BEST day! We all really were “clicking” and just had a blast going around on the lakes. We did have a pretty bad storm in the beginning but we made it and even though it was our farthest distance, we made it in the shortest amount of time. Because we were getting stronger it was a little easier to carry the canoes and our packs were weighing less because the food was going fast!  We got to go to an awesome campsite with lots of rocks and we all were really excited. We had a great night just laughing and talking with our whole group.

Friday: Friday came and went so fast. We got up and got on our way. It was a sunny windy day. It was a great day to be out on the waters. We were out on the waters for about 3 hours and just really all enjoyed the time we had together. When we got to land it was like almost a relief since we had finally seen other people then just the six that were with is that week and it did not seem so much like the world had vanished.

Overall I learned so much about myself and really was just able to spend some time thinking, praying and learning more about God. It was an incredible experience and I am so glad that God gave me the opportunity to go on a trip like this. In all honesty I did not enjoy every part of it but I know that it was stretching and God used it in my life to help me grow and seek Him in everything I say and do.