Middle adventure

“Was that today?”  

This was the answer when we called one of the missing boys to see where he was this morning.  Not exactly the answer you were hoping to hear.  We gathered for the obligatory pre- departure photo and loaded into vehicles.  I watched the thermometer in my vehicle as we made our way north.  By the time we arrived the windshield wipers were on and the temp registered at 59.   Ouch.

Once everyone arrived we moseyed over to the mountain bike check in.  They needed paperwork in order to check us all in.  Remember the hundreds of pages of waivers that Jason and Bryce had sent?  Those are the ones.  And what do you suppose are the odds of them having each form for each boy (and adult)?  Well, I’m not much of a gambling man, but let’s just say I’m comfortable that they were very long odds and the odds makers would have been correct.  There were two additional complications – first, not everyone was doing the same activities and some activities took different waivers.  Secondly, they had been filed by boy rather than by activity.  So with a speed that would have rivaled any Xerox product, Jason began collating.   In the end it turned out that we had many of the forms we needed.  [The rest of this particular incident has been edited out for 5^th amendment purposes]

So three leaders and two youth decided to go mountain biking.  The other 10 youth needed two vehicles to two leaders as they opted for rock climbing and repelling which was up on top of the mountain.  I was part of that group.  The mountain biking crew told us it was a blast and Jason Jensen even has the oozing red forearm to prove just how fun it was.  We came back from checking in to get our extreme passes and Justin Schafer had been transformed into some sort of superhero.  He looked more like Iron Man than Justin.  I had to admit some jealous for the cool equipment they were wearing.  Fortunately, it was a cool enough day that it wasn’t insufferable to wear it.  I hope it smelled better than the equipment at BMX last year.  Wait, I know it did because I was within 300 feet and didn’t get a whiff which was no the case last year. 

The rest of us cruised up to the top of the mountain and met our guide and headed a few miles down the road.  We got out and walked a hundred yards or so into the woods and there was a shed.  It didn’t look like a insidious house of torture from the outside.  But maybe I was just blinded by the anticipation of the climb.  Our guide asked each person what size shoe they took.  It was actually a little frightening how many either had to look at their shoes or made a guess.  Then again, I suppose that when your foot size changes every month and you get shoes every 6 or more, you might not know. He starts with 4 at a time.  The boys tell him their sizes, he disappears into the shed, we hear some banging around and muttering and then in what seems a much longer time than necessary he comes out with a somewhat maniacal glint in his eyes with 4 pair of climbing shoes, repeats the size they ordered to them and then hands them a shoe which is at least a half size different.  He takes four more orders disappears, returns with and repeats the process.  At first I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but when someone asked for a 9.5 and got a 9, and the person who asked for a 9 gets a 10, the hair on the back of my neck starts to stand.  Are we headed deep in to the deep creek forest with a deeply disturbed individual?! 

Climbing shoes, if you haven’t seen them, are sort of like moccasins on top with a stiff thin bottom and then a narrow toe area to allow you to jam your little piggy’s into the crevices and holes to help you climb.  The shoes ain’t made for walking.  When after following his instructions to try on the shoes, he tells us we can take them off for the walk which is about a quarter mile.   Then he gets us our harnesses.  Let’s just say that we are not all larges and that there were some among us who were fortunate this wasn’t a co-ed activity.  #thingsI’drathernotsee.  We then get helmets and proceed the walk/hobble to the rock.  I wonder if it would be more comfortable for Courtney Hicks or Amanda Mangum given their ballet experience.

When we arrive we are greeted by two other folks who are already there to assist.  Well, one is to assist, the other we are told is training.  I’m not sure how their training program works, but hands on experience must not be included as  she didn’t do anything but watch and chat it up.  They have three climbs set up.  But they only have two belays.  And there are 10 of us.  So what it mostly involved is standing around and watching.  But the climbing was fun.  Many of the youth hadn’t climbed a real rock face before.  The stone was a sandstone which was a little difficult on the fingers.  Bishop Lan had a nice bleeder on his shin.  I think everyone made the first and second climbs.  About half or more made the third one and everyone got a chance to repel as well.  We had been expecting rain all afternoon and then only time it really rained was when the maniacal guide said “we were expecting more rain.”  Maybe this demon controls the elements.  Just a theory.  The roughness of the stone made it ok to climb even in the rain.  The walk back to the shed was 10 times more difficult than the walk to the rock.  The relief as those shoes came off was palpable.

For dinner we headed to the pizza place. We slightly over estimated how much pizza we needed and inadvertently bought pizza for both nights and a midnight snack.  We were glad there was a fridge in the hallway downstairs (and a microwave!).   

We then convened in the boardroom for devotional.  It is an awesome thing to see these young men share their testimonies.  Some will be full time missionaries in a little over 3 months and all in less than 3 years.  Bishop Lan concluded with his presentation about a world class rugby player who left his career to serve a mission.  It was great.

After devotional games broke out.  I watched as Jacob Holtom started with no real estate in monopoly and then before you knew it (which is saying something for monopoly) won the game.

We are checking the weather and have serious concerns as it appears that tomorrow will be all rain after noon.  We are hoping that it will hold off long enough for us to do our white water trip first.