My latest e-mail update describing this weeks happenings:
My dearest ones back home,
I wish I could start my email off with a greeting in German, but the last time I took a shot at that I said good naked! So I think I may practice a lil bit more. :) Forgive me if my "y's" look like z's because this keyboard is all turned around.
Well I just got back yesterday from my first "multi day trek" and it was incredible. First we were told Monday morning to pack our bags as we had been instucted with NO deo (meaning no deoderent) and 2 shirts etc... basically the bare minimum and we were dropped off at a location with enough food for 3 lunches and were given a location to make our way to. At the end of Monday after hours of intense back packing we made it to the top of an alp where we found a hut, which is actually more like a lodge. The hut owner provided us with a delicious and hot dinner and we had an amazing lecture from this weeks speaker Steve who is a staff member at the torch bearer school in Germany. That night the boys had one room and the girls had another that basically was one long mattress and we each had our own pillow and blanket but we were all lined up sleeping next to each other. I didn#t sleep too well because there were a LOT of cows around with their bells jingling from around their necks.
The next morning we were all praying we wouldn#t have to backpack again but we actually ended up rockclimbing and I am not sure how to say it in English but we used lobster claws to make our way around these steel ropes that were drilled into the limestone walls.... hard to explain but it was GREAT climbing and a lot of fun. That night we had two more lectures and another hot meal.
Wednesday we woke up and had to pack (lil sidenote, each day our alarm clock is a different staff member, so we never really know what time we go to sleep or wake up... it's totally out of our hands and on this trek we were forbidden to take any toiletries other than our toothbrush and paste and couldn't have a watch, this actuially makes for a really neat experience but is very hard to get used to at first) our bags for another day of backpacking... we hiked until lunch and all stopped at the base of a cross on top of an alp before comtinuing for several more hours and were told to ration our water very carefully. We then met up with some staff members from Taurenhof in this random cow field where they brought us water and informed us we were to go caving and would sleep in a cave that night! So we unpacked our bags and packed a jump suit, helmet and gloves. You have to keep in mind, we haven't showered since Sunday or Monday, we are sweaty, dirty and tired and all smell awful (well at least I imagined, I think my olfactory nerve kluncked out after too much BO) Then, right as we are to continue some massive rain clouds with thunder and lightning moved in. Heli (pronounced Haley) this amazing Austrian superman (seriously) told us he hates lightning the most in the mountains and that we all needed to cover our packs with our rainproof covers and put on our rainproof gear and sit tight next to our bags and not to run around because it could cause friction and get us zapped. So we all sat tight and before you knew it HUGE rain drops came pouring down, followed by pea sized rain, followed by marble sized rain... IT HURT! then it completely stopped raining and random golf ball sized hail started dropping... one here, one there for a good minute. Thank the Lord no one got hit and all of us were laughing pretty hard because it was such a bizarre experience.
After the weird storm passed, about 20 miniutes later, we continued on an uphill climb for about another hour. then we were told to go one last time because it's not possible to go in the cave, so we would have to hold it overnight. then we climbed across a glacier to the opening of the cave... it was FREEZING! I was dripping sweat when we got to the cave, which didn't help. So girls went to one side of the boulder and boys the other and we all changed our clothes to long underwear, gloves, shirts, and basically any layerable clothes we had went on our body underneath the jumpsuit... this was rather hilarious to witness as there was not really enough room for all of us to stand, let alone change clothes and getting into an dout of our backpacks. Then we had to construct new bags because our backpacks wouldn't fit inside with us. So after about an hour of preparing we journeyed 300 meters into the mountainside and 100 meters down. It was insane. And our advice from the Austrian before going... "you will come into many different types of rooms, don't think, just be creative." not even lying. So throughout our journey we would say "don#t think about it!! Just get creative!" There was one point where there was a 2 foot wide opening by about a foot and a half tall and 6 foot long where we had to lay on our stamaches and snake our way through dragging our plastic bags behind. Other parts we had to cross bridges made from ladders suspended from climbing ropes. Basically picture the goonies and the cave in that and that's kind of what is was like. :)
Once we got to our little ledge area where we slept, Heli had us all turn out our lights and I experienced complete darkness for the first time. Ya know, you can't even see the end of your nose in a cave. Nothing. there was nothing. He made a comparison to the Bible and how Christ is the light of the world and to finish the 10 minutes of darkness we all sang amazing grace together. It was an unforgettable experience, probably a favorite from the trip.
We then made our hot cocoa and soup before making camp for the night. Take my word on this one, sleeping in a cave is not very fun. Especially when its 30 degrees and you smell like a man and have to go to the bathroom. But hey, I can now say I slept in a cave. We found out the next morning that most locals don't even know about this cave and that they think it is 90 kilometers long and are still trying to forge their way through the mountain. Thursday we backpacked all day long and arrived home to shower (hallelujah!) and consumed some amazing spaghetti!
Today we were all desperately hoping we wouldn't have to stick our sore feet into our hiking boots again and were pleasantly surprised to learn that my group go to go canyoning. This was another very fun day filled with jumping from 25 foot waterfalls and hiking down a river (well swimming and hiking in the river) in a canyon. Something I had never experienced before. It was a very fun day as well, but I am so tired and am hoping for a day off tomorrow, but I am trying not to get my heart set on it. :)
Weird to think I am in the alps and mom and dad are on their way to their latest campaign in Ecuador. PLease say a prayer for them as they are taking the gospel to the people living on the Amazon river.
Well, that is the latest from my travels. Please let me know how you are doing as well and thank you to those of you who have!! keep 'em coming! :) I love you and miss you all, oh and someone asked... I am in the Dachstein mountain range in Austria if you would like to google and look at pictures and maybe visulize some of our activities.
Love to you all
My dearest ones back home,
I wish I could start my email off with a greeting in German, but the last time I took a shot at that I said good naked! So I think I may practice a lil bit more. :) Forgive me if my "y's" look like z's because this keyboard is all turned around.
Well I just got back yesterday from my first "multi day trek" and it was incredible. First we were told Monday morning to pack our bags as we had been instucted with NO deo (meaning no deoderent) and 2 shirts etc... basically the bare minimum and we were dropped off at a location with enough food for 3 lunches and were given a location to make our way to. At the end of Monday after hours of intense back packing we made it to the top of an alp where we found a hut, which is actually more like a lodge. The hut owner provided us with a delicious and hot dinner and we had an amazing lecture from this weeks speaker Steve who is a staff member at the torch bearer school in Germany. That night the boys had one room and the girls had another that basically was one long mattress and we each had our own pillow and blanket but we were all lined up sleeping next to each other. I didn#t sleep too well because there were a LOT of cows around with their bells jingling from around their necks.
The next morning we were all praying we wouldn#t have to backpack again but we actually ended up rockclimbing and I am not sure how to say it in English but we used lobster claws to make our way around these steel ropes that were drilled into the limestone walls.... hard to explain but it was GREAT climbing and a lot of fun. That night we had two more lectures and another hot meal.
Wednesday we woke up and had to pack (lil sidenote, each day our alarm clock is a different staff member, so we never really know what time we go to sleep or wake up... it's totally out of our hands and on this trek we were forbidden to take any toiletries other than our toothbrush and paste and couldn't have a watch, this actuially makes for a really neat experience but is very hard to get used to at first) our bags for another day of backpacking... we hiked until lunch and all stopped at the base of a cross on top of an alp before comtinuing for several more hours and were told to ration our water very carefully. We then met up with some staff members from Taurenhof in this random cow field where they brought us water and informed us we were to go caving and would sleep in a cave that night! So we unpacked our bags and packed a jump suit, helmet and gloves. You have to keep in mind, we haven't showered since Sunday or Monday, we are sweaty, dirty and tired and all smell awful (well at least I imagined, I think my olfactory nerve kluncked out after too much BO) Then, right as we are to continue some massive rain clouds with thunder and lightning moved in. Heli (pronounced Haley) this amazing Austrian superman (seriously) told us he hates lightning the most in the mountains and that we all needed to cover our packs with our rainproof covers and put on our rainproof gear and sit tight next to our bags and not to run around because it could cause friction and get us zapped. So we all sat tight and before you knew it HUGE rain drops came pouring down, followed by pea sized rain, followed by marble sized rain... IT HURT! then it completely stopped raining and random golf ball sized hail started dropping... one here, one there for a good minute. Thank the Lord no one got hit and all of us were laughing pretty hard because it was such a bizarre experience.
After the weird storm passed, about 20 miniutes later, we continued on an uphill climb for about another hour. then we were told to go one last time because it's not possible to go in the cave, so we would have to hold it overnight. then we climbed across a glacier to the opening of the cave... it was FREEZING! I was dripping sweat when we got to the cave, which didn't help. So girls went to one side of the boulder and boys the other and we all changed our clothes to long underwear, gloves, shirts, and basically any layerable clothes we had went on our body underneath the jumpsuit... this was rather hilarious to witness as there was not really enough room for all of us to stand, let alone change clothes and getting into an dout of our backpacks. Then we had to construct new bags because our backpacks wouldn't fit inside with us. So after about an hour of preparing we journeyed 300 meters into the mountainside and 100 meters down. It was insane. And our advice from the Austrian before going... "you will come into many different types of rooms, don't think, just be creative." not even lying. So throughout our journey we would say "don#t think about it!! Just get creative!" There was one point where there was a 2 foot wide opening by about a foot and a half tall and 6 foot long where we had to lay on our stamaches and snake our way through dragging our plastic bags behind. Other parts we had to cross bridges made from ladders suspended from climbing ropes. Basically picture the goonies and the cave in that and that's kind of what is was like. :)
Once we got to our little ledge area where we slept, Heli had us all turn out our lights and I experienced complete darkness for the first time. Ya know, you can't even see the end of your nose in a cave. Nothing. there was nothing. He made a comparison to the Bible and how Christ is the light of the world and to finish the 10 minutes of darkness we all sang amazing grace together. It was an unforgettable experience, probably a favorite from the trip.
We then made our hot cocoa and soup before making camp for the night. Take my word on this one, sleeping in a cave is not very fun. Especially when its 30 degrees and you smell like a man and have to go to the bathroom. But hey, I can now say I slept in a cave. We found out the next morning that most locals don't even know about this cave and that they think it is 90 kilometers long and are still trying to forge their way through the mountain. Thursday we backpacked all day long and arrived home to shower (hallelujah!) and consumed some amazing spaghetti!
Today we were all desperately hoping we wouldn't have to stick our sore feet into our hiking boots again and were pleasantly surprised to learn that my group go to go canyoning. This was another very fun day filled with jumping from 25 foot waterfalls and hiking down a river (well swimming and hiking in the river) in a canyon. Something I had never experienced before. It was a very fun day as well, but I am so tired and am hoping for a day off tomorrow, but I am trying not to get my heart set on it. :)
Weird to think I am in the alps and mom and dad are on their way to their latest campaign in Ecuador. PLease say a prayer for them as they are taking the gospel to the people living on the Amazon river.
Well, that is the latest from my travels. Please let me know how you are doing as well and thank you to those of you who have!! keep 'em coming! :) I love you and miss you all, oh and someone asked... I am in the Dachstein mountain range in Austria if you would like to google and look at pictures and maybe visulize some of our activities.
Love to you all
1 comment:
Kate,
I always knew you were amazing... but never imagined you had this in you! I am amazed and praying for you AND for your parents in their new journey as well!
Lisa from GCU
Post a Comment