The backpacking experience offered to the high school teens in our church is designed to give our teens the opportunity to experience God in the wilderness. A combination of seclusion, fatigue, trail food, tents, less comfort and electronics fasting, coupled with a spiritual emphasis of scripture, journaling, prayer and focusing upon God’s working in our life, has immense value.
The very words, “Wilderness experience” not only means being in the great outdoors, away from the normal hustle and bustle of city life, but also confronting the moments of “wilderness” in our own spiritual lives; times when we are feeling insecure, less appreciated, pressured, tempted, inadequacy or emptiness.
The treking experience of the Metro Church is designed to meet all those experiences head on. The high mountains of Oregon and Washington offer much to experience. The high country brings to life the feeling of seclusion by seeing vistas unavailable to us in our everyday lives. Snow in the summertime; mountain Goats grazing on sparse vegetation along steep hillsides; Elk keeping watch from mountain meadows and valleys teeming with cold water and green grass; Deer quietly feeding among wild flowers of all kinds and colors; Marmot and the timid Pica busy keeping watch on their territory and putting away food for the coming winter; melting glaciers and snowfields falling hundreds of feet down ancient lava, through beds of pumice, connecting together with other streams to form rivers and lakes.
God is at work in us and we take the time to experience Him at work. Distractions are minimal; everywhere we look, we see Him working in His creation. We are the Sheep of His pasture; created in His image, nestled in the hollow of His hand on the high mountains.
The experience is not always one of scenic beauty, warm sunshine and astonishing sunsets. Sometimes, the weather turns sour and becomes unfit. Such was the experience of Wilderness Trek 2009.
We were taken to the parking lot of Timberline Lodge on the south side of Mt Hood. The parking lot was half full of vehicles; many of which had brought skiers and snow boarders to the mountain to ski the Palmer Glacier. The air was crisp, wet and windy. The temperature was around 38 degrees and heavy clouds covered the mountain top; visibility was limited. The forecast called for cooler than normal temperatures with moderate precipitation and occasional sunshine.
Our destination for today was a high place above the Pacific Crest Trail 2000 called Paradise Park; a vantage point that offered beautiful views of the west side of Mt Hood towards Portland and the Oregon Coastal Mountains. We began walking in heavy fog, blowing rain and chilling temperatures, hopeful to find warmer places. The five miles of good trail took us into the bottom of Zig Zag Canyon where we crossed a raging stream from the melting Zig Zag Glacier. The wind had diminished somewhat but the temperature and cloud conditions remained. We stopped along the stream to view a nearby waterfall and take a small break.
Soon we were climbing out of the canyon for another two miles to the Paradise Park trailhead. The steady climb kept us from getting cold, but taxed our high altitude breathing and stamina, especially for us old timers! The rain never let up.
As we reached our camping area, we found the place deserted and had our pick of camp sites. The hillside was socked in with heavy fog and cloud cover. Rain continued to fall. The wind was gentle enough, but still gave us a deep chill through our wet clothes. We encouraged the teens to quickly set up their tents, get out of their wet clothes into something warm and dry, and to get inside their sleeping bags to warm up. The last thing we needed was for someone to get hurt or come down with hypothermia, which was very likely in this weather.
About four hours later, Josha Moss braved the cold, wet outdoors and began preparing a hot Pasta meal for everyone. Greg Woods, Brian Simmons and I, Mike Thomas, had hunkered down in my two-man tent discussing the events of the day and the prognosis of what was to come, when one of the teens called us to dinner. Slipping back into our wet boots and rain gear, we took our plates to Josha where she gave us a generous helping of thick meat sauce, bubbling in a pan on the single burner stove, and hot Pasta from a second single burner stove. It was a meal fit for a King! There’s something wonderful about the taste of a hot meal on a chilly evening on the first night’s stay.
The teens slowly withdrew from their warm sleeping bags to brave the cold for their share of the hot meal. As each of us finished, we began shaking and shivering from the continuing cold, wet wind. We quickly headed back to the comfort of our tents, warming beneath our sleeping bags.
Darkness soon fell and we slipped away into a deep sleep, awaking often to the sound of the wind and the heavy droplets of water upon our tent.
The next morning wasn’t much better. The sun came out for a few minutes and then was gone. Brian pumped our water container full of filtered water and we began to think about breakfast. There was no organized mealtime for breakfast, as each of us took care of our own breakfast and lunches for the entire trip. Brian used hot water to make himself a hearty hot meal from a freeze dried package of Beef Stroganoff, claiming that he needed something “substantial”. Greg made himself a freeze dried meal of scrambled eggs and meat, along with a cup of hot chocolate. I made myself a double hot coffee and had Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal for my breakfast. As the kids got up, we kept the hot water coming for their use.
Following breakfast, the four of us gathered inside my tent, a brief respite from the wind and rain, to make plans for the day. The outlook appeared bleak to remain on this mountain. Most of our clothes were wet and the cold, overcast conditions continued to pound us. We decided to try to find a spot where cell phone coverage could get us in contact with our pick-up drivers and attempt a rendezvous at the Ramona Falls Trailhead parking lot for an evening pick-up. Brian and I took a walk along the trail to a vantage point out of the trees where we once camped during a previous trip with my daughter and her friend. The “no service” warning was steady and the prognosis appeared bleak. About to give up, the signal indicated 5 bars and I quickly made two calls; the first to Sue Tester, mother of one of our senior teen girls, Lindsay. Leaving her a message, I made the second, which was answered by Dawn, the wife of our driver, Mark Doberenz. I gave her the message as quickly as possible and she understood. No sooner than completing the calls, my phone signal went away and I saw again, the words “no service” on my IPhone. We thought it ironic that in our time of need, God came through for us once again!
We returned to camp and rousted the sleepy kids, telling them to get up and dress for the hike off the mountain. They needed to finish breakfast and then break camp; packing tents, sleeping bags and all they brought.
Water continued to drop from the treetops as we packed our backpacks. We joked with each other about having to carry an additional 5 pounds of water off the mountain in the form of soaked clothes and tents! At one point during the packing, the clouds cleared a view of Mt Hood and we quickly took advantage of it. Greg lined us up and snapped a couple of pictures before the clouds moved back in and obscured the view.
Soon on our way we stopped along a particular outcropping long enough to check cell phone service and get my messages. The only one I wanted was verification that our drivers would be waiting for us at the Ramona Falls Trailhead. Sue had left me a message assuring us they would meet us at the pick-up point this very evening. Reassured, we continued our downward descent along the Paradise Park Loop Trail and connected with the Pacific Crest Trail.
I was hopeful that one particular point of interest would be visible to the kids and we could drop our packs and enjoy the scenery. As we approached the overlook, we were pleased to be able to see snowmelt from McNeil Glacier cascading down the rugged lava gorge, producing waterfalls one after another. The canyon was deep and dropped off perhaps 2000 feet or more. I led the way to an outcropping; a “tooth of time”, down over the edge of the cliff and watched as the kids peered over the edge to see yet another amazing waterfall far below.
Off in the distance was another canyon, cut deep into the ancient lava beds; melt-off from the Sandy Glacier. These two streams, plus a few other small ones farther down the trail would come together and become the headwaters of the Sandy River. We were a little anxious about this stream, not knowing what to expect, as we had to cross it down below. The kids enjoyed the time relaxing on the “tooth”, having lunch, laughing and taking pictures. This was the first time we had real fun this whole trip! The sun was shining and warming the rocks; everyone was enjoying being warm for a change! About the time we started to leave, the clouds cleared the way for a good view of Mt Hood, dotted with snowfields and glaciers. It was near perfect, for a short time.
Continuing on down the trail, we approached the wide Sandy River wash-out, perhaps 100 yards across and followed the Cairns and trail flags to a location where we could cross the narrow river on a roughly made footbridge of three small logs and a few rocks. Bridges across the Sandy never survive the winter snowmelt when the high water clears away everything left behind from the previous year. This bridge was a welcome sight. I waited on the opposite side as each one carefully crossed the makeshift foot bridge. This location was about 4 miles from Paradise and about half a mile from Ramona Falls.
Ramona Falls was spectacular as always; a scenic waterfall, unlike any other we’ve ever seen, cascading down Basalt Lava chunks, creating a large mural of living water that many people photograph or watch. We dropped our packs and soaked in the view, taking photos and enjoying this beautiful creation.
It was 3 ½ miles to the Ramona Falls Trailhead parking lot. The walk was through cool forests and along the clear stream that was once Ramona Falls. The high, solid rock cliffs along the opposite side were unique. We found it impossible to photograph them and make the pictures come close to what our eyes saw. Nothing can ever take the place of the human eye; the clarity, the depth, the sharpness and the magnificence cannot be matched by any camera.
Again we crossed the Sandy River, much wider and more water this time, but upon a nice foot log with a matching hand rail to hang onto. About half a mile from the parking lot we were met by our drivers and Brian Simmons, who had gone on before our group to drop his pack and come back to assist anyone who needed help. We had made good time.
It was good to drop our packs into the trailer and sit down on soft car seats! We had taken 6 hours to make the 8 mile trip from Paradise Park. Everyone was ready to stop at a nearby “greasy spoon” and dive into a big, juicy hamburger with a stack of fries and a big cola…..and so we did!
Sitting around our table, Greg asked each of us to take the time to try to figure out why the trip turned out like it did. Our expectations before the hike were visions of planned, structured personal time with God, scripture reading and reflection. Because of the extreme weather conditions at Paradise Park, our expectations were never realized. Perhaps God had other plans for us. Perhaps He protected us from something that could have happened had our own plans been realized! Perhaps it wasn’t God at all; perhaps it was other forces at work in us. Whatever it was, we now have time to reflect and ask ourselves, “Why?”
We’ve already seen several ways that God has been at work in us. One of the most impacting was that we had returned in time to comfort our Brother in the Lord, and his two kids, who had lost a wife and Mother unexpectedly. When I told Greg about our Brother, he said, “That’s it! That’s why we’re back so soon!” Perhaps it was.
Mike Thomas
