Preamble

As I am sure will happen with some regularity, our discussion has brought back a few memories. In this case the memories are pre-hike. I've also included a couple of bonus photos.

I don't think the ward leadership thought I could pull this off. Or maybe it was that they didn't think you boys would want to go. In any case President Humphries (Young Men's President) made a comment one day that kind of riled me. I don't recall the conversation leading up to the comment but he said something to the effect of "We will have to see if this even happens." I recall that I was talking enthusiastically about something before the comment and that I felt deflated afterwards. I probably should have talked to him about what the comment meant but instead I set my jaw and turned to the chore of making preparations.

We spent a couple of mutual nights talking about how to backpack. Thus Matt's comment about cutting your toothbrush handle in half. I tried to pound into your heads that a light pack was the ultimate goal. I didn't want any of your packs to weigh in at more than 30 pounds. We covered how to make light weight meals, what clothes to bring, the whole deal. As I recall, Matt Lane and Matt Lund were often missing from these classes due to basketball practice.

As you began to pair up to share food, tents, etc. I was amazed at how you paired up. I thought that similar personalities would pair up together but found I could not predict how it would go. This was one of the first times I began to realize there was something very unusual about this group. There seemed to be a genuine concern about putting people together in pairings that would be the most beneficial to everyone. I hadn't made any suggestions about this and found myself amazed and impressed.

My next problem was adult leaders. Jake Shirk volunteered to go and I was happy to have him but had my concerns. He was new to this and even though he was a cop I wasn't sure he was in great shape. There would be no McDonalds on this trip and Jake's diet involved a good deal of fat and grease. I was leading Chef Boyardee into the culinary desert.

I couldn't find anyone with backpacking experience and I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of leading a bunch of neophytes into the wilderness without some experienced help. I called my brother in law in Utah to see if by some miracle he could help out. Paul said he was in and my stress level dropped dramatically.

Shawn Riley was my advisor and an aspiring golf pro. His idea of the wilderness was looking for a lost ball in the rough. He informed me one day that the bishop told him he had to go on the hike. I'm sure he wasn't really told he "had" to go but Bishop Pierce must have had a pretty direct talk with him to make him decide he was going. Jared was our last person without a hiking buddy so he and Riley became partners. Jared was not certain he could handle the elevation due to his asthma but a quick trip in the car to the top of the mountain and then a fast run at the summit confirmed he should be alright. Last men in.

The night before the hike was weigh in. You were to each bring your pack to my house to be weighed and inspected. Of course Nathan's and Shawn McDowell's were exactly 30 pounds. Well packed, great food selection, all was in order. The remaining packs had varying degrees of success. A few adjustments here and there and we were ready to go. But wait, there were a couple of people missing. Matt and Matt, as far as I knew, had made no real preparations. I had spoken to their mothers and told them I wasn't going to let them go. They pleaded with me to let them hike at their own peril. I relented. They showed up the next morning with uninspected packs. I took a quick look and there didn't seem to be a lot in their packs for how heavy they were. I did notice a wadded up tarp and a big hunk of rope that took up a large amount of space.

So off we went. To quote the movie "Ice Age" we were the weirdest herd I have ever seen. After a few hours of driving we would don our packs and head into the back country of a national park to live for 6 days with only what was on our backs. Some backs were more prepared than others.

Continental Divide

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). Our first summer camp was to Rocky Mountain National Park. Our hike would entail about 2000 feet of vertical climb to top out at 12,300 feet on the Continental Divide.

Our first camp was only half a mile from the parking lot. Big Meadow. When I arrived in camp (you had all practically run the half mile) Noah informed me he had saved the best tent site for me and Paul (my brother in law). I had remarked on our scouting visit to the site that it was a very cool place to put a tent. I scoffed at putting my tent there but was glad he had preserved the site because it was the absolute worst place you could put a tent. The site was in the bottom of a depression with dead fall all around it. In a storm I knew the site would become a shallow pond - been there, done that - and I wasn't up for round two. I chose the highest ground right in the middle of the camp.

As we prepared dinner I kept getting remarks about how good my food looked and smelled. This was going to be fun watching you first timers for a week. A week of Top romin sounds good at home but gets old in a hurry. My dinner was stuffing, freeze dried peas and jerky topped with a tall water bottle filled with pink lemonade. Very satisfying.

During dinner everyone kept asking me if it was going to rain. Large billowing white clouds were forming overhead and then disappearing. I kept saying I didn't know until in my frustration I shouted "No. Those are big white fluffy clouds. Rain clouds are dark!" Paul and I retreated to the meadow for some evening fly fishing.

The trout in the stream were tiny but very ferocious. Often they would jump out of the water to get our fly before it hit the water. If the fly did hit the water the trout would usually hit it so hard they flew out of the water. We were having a blast! Suddenly it got dark and we looked up to see black storm clouds rolling over the peaks at an incredible rate of speed. A couple more casts then a huge bolt of lightening followed by some very impressive thunder. Paul and I looked at each other with the same thought "We are in the middle of a meadow with lightening rods in our hands!" We left the rods on the bank of the stream and headed for the trees and camp.

Everyone but Paul and I were in there tents to wait out the storm. Paul and I wandered about camp with our rain gear on watching the water pool up. One tent - I think Matt and Matt's - had a mote around it. They were on high ground but there was a depression all around them with the very corners touching the water. The site Noah had saved for me was now a pond - it only takes one night of living hell for me to learn - good teaching moment. Jared's tent had one corner pretty well into a puddle and his sleeping bag got a wet.

After the storm blew over, which was maybe fifteen minutes, Paul and I returned to the stream for more action in the trout nursery. After a while we saw Jared walking across the meadow with his head down and shoulders slumped. Paul looked at me and said he would move upstream so Jared could talk to me. Don't be too impressed with his thoughtfulness. Just upstream was the best hole we had been working toward. He headed straight for it.

Jared wanted to go home. Things had piled up on him and he was feeling the weight of it all. His dad had recently been laid off from the airlines and money was tight. But they had scrounged the money for the camp including a new backpack and Jared felt a little guilty about that. The next problem was that his food and tent buddy was Shawn Riley an adult leader (This was before the days of leaders and scouts not being able to be in the same tent - or at least I hope it was). Riley, as the boys called him, really didn't want to be there. He was an aspiring golf pro and only went because the bishop told him he really should go. As a result he didn't participate with Jared on the meal planning. Only when they got to Big Meadow did Riley learn that he would spend the week eating power bars and similar energy foods. Jared loved the stuff but Riley didn't care for it so Jared felt terrible. On top of all this his sleeping bag was wet. He wanted to quit.

We talked for a while and I was tempted to hike him out but decided that was the wrong thing to do. Jared's folks had sacrificed to get him on the camp and I felt that sacrifice would have been in vain. Riley made his own bed and now he would have to sleep in it; that was not Jared's problem. The sleeping bag would dry out. But most of all I did not want to teach him that when the going gets a little rough you can just quit. His walk back to camp wasn't much happier then his walk to the meadow. I really felt bad for him. Those aggressive trout eased my pain when I caught up with Paul at the prime fishing hole.

Well, that is my memory of Big Meadow. I scanned some pictures from that day and a few are attached. Now I want to hear your take on that day. What do you remember from your day at Big Meadows?

Calling the Brotherhood

Greatness.

In the early 1990's I was privileged to be part of something great. I have often reflected on my association with a phenomenal group of young men during that time and always I come to the same conclusion - we are a part of something greater than the sum of it's parts. Often I have used stories from our trips together into the wilderness of Colorado or the canyon lands of Utah in talks or lessons or just for fun.

I was out of touch with everyone for a number of years but recently have made contact with most everyone. As I have met with you all in person or writing over the last few years I have come to an alarming conclusion; Few of you recognize the greatness you achieved or the rarity of your association with each other.

Perhaps you would realize it on your own as your children get older. We all experienced our time together through our own eyes. We may each have entirely different memories from the same event based on our individual lives, needs and emotions at that time. I had the privileged of looking at the events as a sort of outsider. Don't get me wrong - I was part of the group but I was also older and a sort of leader. I was disconnected from the group in significant ways such as not attending school with you or going through the tumultuous teenage years myself. I was both participant and observer.

Noah and I were together a few days ago when this subject came up (he was supposed to be out shopping for an apartment). I believe he is starting to understand the greatness. It was he who suggested that our memories would be different based on our personal life experiences. He showed me his personal blog then suggested I make one of my own. I never thought I would have a blog but Noah's suggestion has been rattling around in my brain until my hands were forced to comply.

What value is the achievement, what lessons can be learned or shared if we do not recognize what we have been a part 0f? So here it is - A Call to the Brotherhood. I will post a picture or maybe just a memory and ask each of you to respond with your version of the event. Your reflection should be short and concise - Just two or three short paragraphs or few will finish reading it. Our achievement may be greater than even I recognize as we each share our perspective.