I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED!

Trek 2012

This was one of the funnest and most exciting things I've ever done. Trek is definately something everyone should do because it teaches you the true meaning of strength and sacrifice. It brings together wards and 'families' to make friends that will last forever. I will never forget what we did there and what it taught me.

The Physical part for me wasn't really hard at all after Dark Canyon two weeks ago, but the Spiritual side was very uplifting. We left wednesday morning and started trekking around 10 'o clock. I was in the Sherwood's family that called themselves the 'Star Trekkers'. The Morse's were going to be 'The Walking Negroes' (an old chain gang) until they decided that was too racist and they became 'The Smiths'. We ate way to well in my opinion, with the Stake spending about $12,000 on food alone. I was mad about this until I realized that the only Pioneer authentic thing we were really doing was pulling a handcart, so I didn't mind the food that much.

We went 13 miles the first day, 8 Thursday, 6 Friday, and 3 Saturday morning. Thursday was the Women's Pull, which was inspirational to both men and women. The men had to walk up the hill and we just had trouble walking, so we couldn't imagine how the women would pull a handcart up that thing. While we were gone though, they had a devotional in which they were promised Angels to help them, and our ward did a fantastic job. When they got to the top we were not allowed to speak or help (we cheered a little bit anyway) until they got around this turn and stopped to breathe. Ahead was another hill that they thought they would have to climb until we were released and came running. It was an amazing spiritual experience that I will never forget.

The rest was easy compared to that, and we trekked along until Friday afternoon when we had a devotional in which we were told to turn around the bracelets that we had made with the names of our Ancestors to the side that had our name, put on 'modern' clothes and have fun. I hadn't brought a change of clothes because I thought we'd be Pioneers the whole time, so I cut my pants at the knee and put on my pajama shirt. The activities were very fun, including Gator Ball, Angry Birds, and homemade ice cream. The last part was another devotional with Captain Moroni showing up and giving us an inspirational speech of how we are modern day Nephite Soldiers, standing up for the right in the face of the Devil and all his minions. Then each of the Stake Presidency gave their testimonies and we went to bed. 

The next day was easy, with the 'Mormon Battalion' having taken our handcarts during the night so we didn't have to take them with us. We walked the last three miles and went home, and I realized that most of my tan was just dirt when I got in the shower. I had to talk today with 5 other people in church with no prior notice but that wasn't bad. I want to do it all again when I can in the future because it was unforgettable and irreplaceable. 

-Coy.

Dark Canyon 2012

This was the most dangerous thing I've ever done in my life up to this point, and I loved every minute of it. Hiking Dark Canyon is a scout activity that every scout able to do should do.

Why you might ask?

Because you learn more about scouting and survival on it then all your previous years of Scouting combined (including all camp-outs and week-longs).

The experience starts way before you even leave your home with the packing of your bag. Dark Canyon (it could be longer) is a three day hike where everything you need you have to carry yourself. Every ounce counts as too much or too little could make or break you. All your meals you're called on to bring and prepare yourself, with nobody babysitting or helping you. I had three dehydrated dinners (which turned out surprisingly delicious) and a variety of granola bars, Cliff Energy Bars,  and smaller snacks to tide me through the other parts of the day. Everything else needs to be carefully considered and classified into 'want' and 'need'. If you only want it, don't bring it or it will only end up as extra weight that will slow you down, make you use more water, and will make the trip much less enjoyable. Everything else I brought was 2 total pairs of clothes (one wearing and one packed) consisting of two t-shirts, a pair of shorts, a pair of light pants that turned into shorts, one pair of sturdy sandals and one pair of hiking shoes with two pairs of light wool socks. Everything else I brought was a light fleece sleeping bag, a tarp, a camel bag bladder (that my bag had a pouch for) a water bottle, and a small Book of Mormon.

The Hike started Thursday morning with a hike down a 1,000 foot cliff face. This consisted of about 2 hours of dropping and zig-zagging through faces and small plateaus. This is why we brought pants for the first day, and those that didn't ended this part with various cuts and bruises all over their exposed legs. We laughed at the bottom when we realized we had moved about 100 horizontal feet into the canyon when going about a mile at least total (the hike we did was about 21 miles total).

The next part of the hike was the hard part however, as you will now hear. We hiked through a dry riverbed for about at least an hour before DeLynn Summers (the oldest participant) began to slow down. It wasn't mentally that he was having problems, it was his knee giving out on him and the fact that we were running out of water earlier then expected. It also didn't help that a lot of the water spots our guides had seen the last time they'd been there were now dried up, making it an hour longer before we'd even seen water. Trevor Morse (one of the guides) and Joey Summers stayed behind with him while we went on to get to water.

I heard the whole story later that went something like this. After we left the three we left behind went on as fast as they could for about an hour longer. DeLynn started to get delirious at that point from water dehydration and heat exhaustion. Joey stayed with him while Trevor went on as fast as he could. He said he didn't think he was doing bad at all (he is a firefighter after all) until he suddenly blacked out. He woke up a minute later and went about 10 feet before it happened again. This time he got over to the shade before laying down and passing out again. He woke up again when Joey ran up to him and woke him up again. Joey brought Delynn over and laid him down next to Trevor and then he went on.

Joey went as long as he could before stopping to pray. He asked Heavenly Father to help him save the two people he'd left behind and to have the strength to go on. He reported a sustaining influence seemed to envelop him at that point and push him on to the water which was two turns away (about a half mile longer). It was a stagnant pool we (the leading party) had passed because it was basically swamp water that would have clogged our filters. Joey stopped there and started to fill his container and started getting water down his throat before running it back to the others.

During this, we had gone about one turn farther to find flowing water. Quickly we filled our water containers and drank our fill. Then we loaded up Jeffery Garner and Jesse Drury (who were the only ones in good enough condition to run) with as much water as they could carry and they took off back to the others. They found Joey a little after he had stopped at the water, who pointed them back to the others.

At the same time approximately, Trevor had waken up and shook Delynn until he was semi conscious They also said a prayer that help would come soon and that they would be able to finish the hike. They laid back down again after this. Jeff and Jesse ran up on them a few minutes later. Jesse said it 'was one of the most traumatic experiences of his life', when he saw them laying on the ground looking like they were dead. They shook them awake and gave them the water, and they were soon fine afterwards, which is a miracle in and of itself.

We were in water the rest of the trip, so nothing even remotely close to that happened again. We would have definitely went back earlier if we had known it was that bad, but everything turned out fine. The rest of the trip was a lot of fun, with active hiking and cliff jumping in-between that ranged in-between 10-40 feet in height. That's a basic summary of the last two days up until the end where the Bishop and Dylan Drury were waiting with their boats and amazingly delicious sandwiches. We went tubing for a couple hours before making the 6 hour drive home to me staying up to 11 playing Legend of Zelda and a deliciously Hot shower.

Overall, the experience was definitely worth it and made up for the challenge in learning experiences. I might get pictures, which I will post here when I get the chance. See you again in 2 weeks after our stake Trek!

Junior Year has ended...

Why must time slide like you on a block of ice heading down a hill, fun while it lasts but over before you realize it? This year was definitely the best school year I've had yet, and it made me only more excited for my Senior year. I'll have to go through period by period to make sure I can organize my thoughts and get it all down in one post, here we go. (I don't claim ownership for any artwork used, but I'm not sure who made it).

This was me in College Prep Math (of course after I'd done all the work and the next period's homework). I'd signed up for Pre-Calc but the School System derped on me even though I had every qualification necessary and had done the appropriate tests. because of this I had to sit through a repeat of my 4 previous math years without learning much new material. This was my only 'bad' class so to say, and the teacher could have been better, but I managed to get into Math 1060 next year so that won't be bad.

2nd Period was A' Capella Choir, which I will never ever forget. We had a choir of about 80 people and we had lots of fun and amazing experiences including choir tour. Some of our songs included Ver Du Ron, Jimmy Crack Corn, Lux Arumque, Let Me Fly, Choose Something Like A Star, I Am Not Yours, and Cindy. My Amazing teacher, Ms. Butterfield (who will become a Mrs. this October) was the perfect person for the job, and I am so thankful for all she's done for me this year. I'm looking forward to being in this choir again and in addition Madrigals next year!

3rd was Chemistry A.P., which I mostly took just to have Melville again, definitely one of the top three best teachers EVER! The subject material was nigh impossible at times but only Melville and a previous year of Chemistry got me through. I'll hear how I did on the test in June/July, but the class was fun because we could play Magic: The Gathering with him in the off times including the last month after the test.

Here's a snapshot of 4th period Debate class. This year was unique in the fact that I was one of the teachers this year, and we did way better then last. We had people place in state (including me, 6th in Lincoln-Douglas) and a lot of fun in our spare time. Next year is going to be Fantastic however, with twice as many people and a lot stronger base of students to build on.

Seminary doesn't get a picture because I don't have one to summarize it fully. I learned so much this year and my spirit was so strengthened that I can literally give a lot of credit for my testimony to my two wonderful teachers, Sister Beautikofer and Brother Browning. Sister B was fun and energetic and was the perfect person to teach the Old Testiment, bringing it to life it and what not. Brother Browning had amazing insight and great discussions even if we didn't get to all the material, he spake completely by the spirit. I am so thankful for people who give their lives to the increasing the spiritual knowledge go others. Thank you so much.

Chinese was a class that surprised me in a lot of ways, with the teacher being fantastic and the subject material being not even near as hard as people chalk it up to be. It's just like a little bit of secret code that most a matures could figure out with a little help (hint: the top of the poster says 'Rainbow Dash'). We only had to learn about eighty characters, something like 200 words, and have a lot of fun. Mr. Groethe was a cool guy who was relatively new to teaching but very good at it. Anybody should take his class, and I AM SO MAD THAT MADRIGALS TOOK THE SAME PERIOD AS IT NEXT YEAR! GAH! I will join the Chinese club though

Mr. Briggs, thank you for giving me the greatest History class I have ever experienced. Seriously, Mr. Briggs is a genius, as as most geniuses, he is insane. Literally. He even knows it and admits it. Direct Quote: "I know I'm insane, and the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The Second is therapy and I refuse to take that." He was easily sidetracked and often did it himself on purpose but I learned so much from his class I could take it a hundred times more, and I MANAGED TO GET HIM NEXT YEAR FOR HIS U.S. GOVERNMENT CLASS! YESSSSSS!!!!! He is a Genealogy freak and and History nut and I love him as a teacher.

Language Arts Honors was a class definitely worth taking. Mrs. Marshall was a teacher that actually cared about what we learned and how much we learned and that made it enjoyable (although the class was my hardest under Chem A.P.). Although a large majority of the class was recycled material, we read a lot of great plays and studied literary devices in depth. I enjoyed it a lot.

Overall, my Junior Year was fantastic. I can't believe it's over and I can't stand the idea of Summer (I still don't know how I managed to type that). If college is better then this then I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Until next week after I get back from Dark Canyon!