Spartan Beast

      When I turned 18 and went off to college, my best friend and roommate Stephanie Sorensen and I sat down on our beds on day and wrote out a bucket list of things we wanted to do before we died. Being a silly young 18 year old girl, I put a lot of crazy things on my list that I am not sure I will ever do. But running a Tough Mudder type race was on my list. I decided to sign up and run the Spartan Beast race this year.
      The entry fee is pretty close to $200. I really didn't want to fork out that much money to run myself to death, so I somehow convinced Paul to be a volunteer for me. If he volunteers, he gets a free race entry. It all worked out. I got to run my race, and I didn't have to pay a thing for it!
     Race day came, and I was kind of nervous. I hadn't been able to train a whole lot for it over the past few weeks. I hadn't even run a full 12 miles in over a year. I was a little daunted by the task, but I committed myself to do it and I tried my best.
       Paul had to start at his position early at like 7. My heat didn't start until 8:30 so I had a whole hour and a half to sit around and over think everything I was going to do that day. By the time my heat started I was pretty nervous and a little nauseous because I was overly stressing myself out.
    I started the race with a light jog. I had no idea what the course would be like, or what the obstacles would be like, so I tried to keep it slow and steady. Our first obstacle was a mud pit. We had to jump in the muddy water and climb out. With it being pretty warm outside the ice cold water was breath taking. Literally, I had to tell myself to breathe it was so cold, but it was VERY refreshing. I jumped in, climbed out and kept running. The next obstacle was a set of hurdles. I had to crawl under one, jump over one, crawl under one, jump over one. The course then turned onto a hiking trail that was steeper than steep. It was literally so steep you physically could not run up it. Walking and grabbing onto trees felt like the only way to propel yourself up the steep terrain. After you climbed up for 10 minutes, it dropped you back down the trail, which was steeper than the climb up. A boy in front of me had to catch me twice because I started slipping out of control down the hill. At the bottom of the hill were the first set of walls. They were only 5 feet. Scaling them wasn't too hard.

This is the Log hop. Had to run across the tops of the posts without falling off

This is at the end of the course. I had been rolling down a hill in the mud under barbed wire trying not to throw up! Some how the camera guy caught me spitting! 

     At this point I had passed up multiple girls, and several boys. I kept my pace and kept going. The running trail evened out a little bit and wasn't quite as steep. The next obstacle that came along had you pick up a sandbag and carry it up and around a steep hill. Thankfully, all my backpacking trips helped me prepare for this challenge. It was great. I even passed up a few boys and girls on this obstacle. Then off to more running. Up and down a single track trail then to another obstacle. Cedar posts were put into the ground. I had to run across without falling off. This obstacle made me nervous because I have terrible balance. Luckily I made it through with no problems. Next set of challenges were more walls, (I think. I can't remember everything exactly so I am trying my best to play the race over in my mind and write out everything I remember). These walls were a little taller 6 feet I think. I had to use the side braces to get myself up. Thats one disadvantage to being a shorty.
     Then I followed the trail a little more.   I had to pick up a heavy cement block with a chain attached to it, and drag the thing up and around a hill and put it back in the bin. That was tough. But I got it. The next obstacle after that had each person fill up a 5 gallon bucket with rocks. Once it was full, you had to carry it up and around a hill and dump it back out. This was hard. I filled my bucket too full probably adding an extra 5 lbs to it. I had to stop and set it down multiple times, which I am sure made it even harder for me because I had to exert the strength to pick it up again. I did let several people pass me up here, but I really had no choice. It was hard.
     At this point in the race I ran into several people that I knew. Seth and Ed Endemano had caught up with me. We kind of talked for a little bit and jogged our way through the course down to the next obstacle. Which was pretty fun. You had to climb up a cargo net type thing, to the top of a bridge, cross the bridge, then climb back down the cargo net. I only slipped up once, and I didn't die. So it was all good. This next obstacle I failed! You had to throw a spear at a straw bale man and it had to stick. My tip only stuck for a mili second before it fell. So, alas, I had to do 30 burpees. 30! that is a lot of burpees. I lost the Endemanos while doing my burpees, but meh. After finishing them, I tried not to sprint to catch up with anyone, but I tried to run faster than my previous pace. I set a decent pace and ran my course. When I got to the next obstacle, I was excited that it was something I could quickly complete. You had to hoist a cement block up to the top of a contraption and lower it back down without dropping it. Completed it pretty quickly then set out on my way again.

      By now I am trying to figure out where Paul is. I knew he was assigned to the course somewhere, but I hadn't seen him yet. I kept running and hit the rolling mud pits. The mud pits were a series of 4 mud pits you had to jump into then climb up the bank and jump into the next one. With the heat, this felt so great to be in the cold water. I did pretty good until the last pit. The level of the water was basically up to my arm pits. I couldn't get a good foot hold because the water level was so deep. Luckily a random guy gave me a leg up so I could get out of the water. Thank you random guy! Then I think we had to flip a tractor tire over twice, then turn and flip it back twice. Before I knew what I was doing I had flipped my tire three times. The lady working the course told me that I only needed to flip it back once because I had over flipped it. That was pretty nice I guess.
      The run for the next few miles was pretty brutal. It went from being flat, to being a pretty steep hike up the hill. I was telling Seth while we were walkin it that the two back packing trips I had done previously this summer were the best training I could have done for the race. It was so true. We really couldn't run the course at this point. It was too rocky, and too steep and with it being single track, it was really hard to pass up the people in front of you. You basically had to follow their speed. Once the course started to turn down hill again, I was able to over pass several people and get ahead a little bit more.
     At this point I think I am about half way through the course. I can't remember exactly what comes next because it all blurs together, but I think the next obstacle was a crawl through the mud under barbed wire. With the wire only about 2.5 feet off the ground you had to crawl in the mud to the exit. Once you get to the exit, you slide down a mud slide and get yourself up and ready for the next obstacle. The next obstacle I think, was the rope climb. Normally climbing a rope isn't hard, but when the rope hangs over a mud pit and the rope is soaking wet, it gets a little bit tougher to climb. I couldn't climb my rope. I was cocky and tried to climb the mens side (the knots in the rope are further apart), rather than the women's side. I couldn't do it. The rope was too slick, the water pit was too deep, and so I just sucked it up and did the burpees. Ugh. Up to sixty burpees now.
     I don't exactly remember what obstacle came next, but I think we had to climb across some rock wall type things. The planks of wood that were meant to be hand and foot holds were turned at crazy angles though. You had to be very carful with how you stepped or you would find yourself on the ground pretty quickly. I made it through the wall and headed up to my next challenge. This one was tough. I had to put a lot of effort into completing this task. There was a tractor tire attached to a chain and a stake. I had to drag the tire down hill until the chain was taut. Then you had to go pack to the top, where the stake anchored it, and pull the tire and chain up hill to the top. There were 3 other girls working on this challenge when I got there. They were still there when I left. As I watched them try to pull it with just their arm strength, I realized I needed to use all my body weight as well to get the heavy tire back up the small hill.
     I really can't remember the order of what came next, but I remember having to run through the hills and up and down a hiking trail. I remember running through several more mud pits, one of them they told me I had to walk on my hands and pretty much crawl through the water. I had to cross the monkey bars, after having sloshed through mud. That was kind of tricky because my hands were wet and slimy. I think that after the Monkey bars there was another rope to climb. This time I was able to climb it. The rope wasn't wet or slick so it was a lot easier to complete this challenge.
    I think the next challenge that came along was kind of tough. You had to crawl under barbed wire, again, but this time, it wasn't just a few yards, it was a few hundred yards, and it was down hill. There were so many rocks and the course was so long, that most people, me included just rolled down. It made me super nauseous, but I kept it up. At the bottom of the hill someone with a fire hose just plastered you. Maybe trying to clean off all the mud on you, or maybe just trying to tick me off, either way, they completed their task. After the fire hose spray down you had to pull yourself up a slick steep ramp with just a piece of rope, then jump through a huge intimidating looking fire, and the last obstacle was the crazy guys at the end with giant q-tip looking things they would smack you with.
     Once I finished I couldn't believe the race was over. It didn't seem like it took me that long to complete it. Now that I look back on it, it really didn't take me that long to complete it. I ran the race in a little over 3 hours. For all females I was pretty much in the top 50. I am relieved that it is over, but it was actually kind of fun. I may want to run another one at some point in my life!  

     When Paul and I got home, he got to spray me down with the hose outside. The water was SO cold. Paul just laughed. I can't believe that I had as much mud as I did attached to my body. We were outside for at least 30 minutes just spraying me down with the hose. What a great husband!
    After the race I got to spend time with Paul's family at Taylorsville Dayzz. We watched a fun concert, and got to ride in a hot air balloon. Our cute nephew Sage hung out with us too. Even though I was exhausted from the race I had a blast spending time with the family and relaxing. The fireworks show was great too!

Utah Summer Games

After getting home from girls camp at about 2:00 AM, I woke up at 6:30 to get ready for ultimate frisbee. I was completely exhausted, but so very excited at the same time. We played our first game against a mix of people that my team knew from playing in the Orem Ultimate League up North. We barely lost to them. It was a killer game. The ending score was 14-15 and honestly, we had a lot of crap calls from one of their team members which pretty much gave them the game. It was a little bit frustrating.
    After we lost, in order for us to place for a medal, we had to play a few extra games, and we couldn't lose any of the games to follow. We played another team and beat them. We didn't cream them, but it wasn't a super hard game. After that we played a team from Rexburg. They were a challenge. We had to play it smart, but we did it. This game was much closer than the previous one, but we pulled off a win.
      By this time, I was completely exhausted, so I tried very hard to drink lots of water. I think I downed about 6 liters of water through the course of the day. Which would explain why I seriously had to pee every 45 minutes. It was awful, but I was hydrated
    Because we won the Rexburg team we had to play the first team we played. We were determined to win. It was funny because the other team said that if they were losing by a whole lot, they were going to forfeit to save energy or something like that. We worked hard to kick their butts at the beginning. By the time we got to half time, we were ahead something like 8-3. We weren't very smart at the end though, and we let them catch up. We battled back and forth for the rest of the game and ended up pulling off a win. Because we beat them, we were now playing for the championship. The only bad thing about it was that the first place team hadn't lost any games, and we had lost one. In order to beat them for gold medal, we had to play two games against them and win.
     At the beginning of the game we were determined to beat them and win the gold medal. By halfway through the game, I think the rest of my team was still determined, but I had to pee so bad that I honestly just wanted the game to be over so I wouldn't have to keep making the trip to the outhouse. We didn't end up winning. It was very close, but just not quite. We got silver.

   
 At this point I was so relieved. I was so tired, so hot, and so not wanting to keep using the outhouse.  I had a blast playing frisbee with the alumni team this year. I wanted to go out with a bang. I could be pregnant next year or have a kid already, so I don't think I will get the chance to play in a tournament for a while.

Stake Girls Camp

     For the past few months I have been working with a WONDERFUL group of ladies to plan girls camp for our stake. We have laughed together and cried together, spent lots of late nights working on camp stuff, and this week everything finally came together. After the rather dramatic start to our girls
camp planning, I must say that girls camp ran very smoothly and the girls got what we wanted out of it!
     We took the YCLs (youth camp leaders), up to girls camp a day earlier than the rest. We needed them to help us get the camp all set up and plan a few things for the week. After we got to camp, we had our lovely YCLs set up tents and decorate the tiny pavilion for us. As leaders, we figured out where camp spots were and tried to get everything arranged for the wards coming up. Best part of the day was when Corri needed more aluminum foil for dinner so Corri, Jesse, Katie, and I all jumped in the truck, drove to duck creek, and got aluminum foil. But not only did we get foil, we also got some pretty dang good ice cream. Shh, don't tell anyone though, it was a secret ice cream run!  I ended up leaving around 9:30 to head back home. I am in the YW presidency with my ward, so I needed to be there Wednesday to drive up with the girls.
     Wednesday morning I ran to the store to get everything that Corri forgot to get before she got up to camp. Then we met at our church. It happend that I rode with Amanda Hansen and we had no girls in our car, which was a good thing. Half way to girls camp, we came across a van that was broken down and a bunch of girls were on the side of the road. We pulled over and found out that it was a van from a different ward in our stake, and they were also going up to girls camp. We had the girls jump in our car and we got up to girls camp.
    Because I was on the stake committee, I had a pull in what camping spot my ward got, which was great, because I think we got the best one! We met up with the rest of our ward and got all unpacked. The girls were so excited, which made me happy. They need time to spend out in the wild unplugged from life. The next few days were full of fun, and a little bit of drama. As a stake we planned lots of fun activities for the girls to do, but some of the girls in my ward just thought they were better than that and didn't have to participate. It was a real eye opener for them when they realized they didn't have a choice in the matter. I am sure that I upset a few girls. But I do believe it was a good experience for them to mingle with other girls in the stake, while participating in activities.
    I had a hard time drawing the line between when I was needed with the ward and when I could help with the stake. I felt bad just leaving my ward by themselves, but I also felt really guilty not being able to help the stake committee out when they needed it. The first night there was so cold! I was able to stay mostly warm, but it wasn't quite comfortable. The second night was perfect. I think all the girls and the leaders were praying for warmer weather. I was toasty. I went to bed and seriously didn't wake up until the next morning. I even got into a deep enough sleep to dream, (which usually doesn't happen while I am camping).
    Friday we took the girls on a hike. It was a hike to Mammoth Caves. The girls loved it. There were a lot of them, especially from my ward, who had a blast crawling around the caves. When we got back to camp I kind of cheated and took a shower, but I really needed one. One of our camp directors taught us a way fun game. It is called rooster on the roof. All the wards that watched us play it thought we were probably crazy, but that is ok. It was so great. Paul came up to camp today. All of the girls from the other wards that we took on the fourth year hike, came and played with paul and he got into a water fight with them. They loved it. He is so good with the youth. The grand finale for Friday was a video that corri put together. We had a slide show of the 4th year hike, pictures of girls throughout camp, a few mormon messages blended in there, and we also got the girls to secretly share little bits and pieces of their testimony. It was so spiritual. We had our own ward testimony which was great. Very spiritual, then I left to head home. The rest of the ward stayed up for the night, but I had to leave for an ultimate frisbee tournament in the morning.

Havasu Pai

       This summer I was lucky enough to go to Havasu Pai with my best friend Lisa Walters, and a group of great people. I had to leave poor Paul behind to do his school work, but I promised him I would take him to Havasu Pai some day. I have ALWAYS wanted to go there. It is a backpacking trip that is amazing and phenomenally beautiful. Lisa Walters' sisters knew a group of people that were planning a trip down there, so we kind of just signed ourselves up and tagged along for the ride.
       Our group was literally coming from all over the US. We had people fly in from DC, Seattle, some drove from Texas, and some came from various parts of Utah. We met in a town called Kingman, in AZ, spent the night in a hotel, then hit up the trail head early-ish in the morning. We were supposed to start hiking at 7 but we really didn't start hiking until like 9.
     

The hike into Supai is crazy. You start at the top of a cliff and pretty much switch back down the cliff wall until you drop to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. After that you hike through a slot canyon for about 6.5 miles until you reach the village. The hike down the switch backs wasn't bad. It was fairly steep, but in all honesty, the switchbacks Lisa and I hiked on our last trip were much steeper. Because of our late start, the sun was already blaring down on us. It was really hot, and we all had heavy packs on. We took lots of breaks and stuck to the small amounts of shade we could find. By the time we got to Supai Village it was basically noon, and super super hot outside. We stopped for a little bit, refilled our water, then continued the 2.5 mile journey to the campground. It was hard. We were hiking all down hill, but it was over 100 degrees outside with hardly any shade and our 30 lb packs on. Lisa and I had to push ourselves real hard to get to the campsite with out going delusional.
     We had multiple groups of people pass us along the way, so of course, by the time our group actually made it to the campsite, all the good ones were taken. We found one that we kind of crammed 15 people into for the night. It was right up against the canyon wall. After camp was all set up, we suited up and hit the water. At first we just sat in the river by camp. We were so hot we didn't really care what we did. But after we cooled down we decided to hike up to Havasu Falls. It just a couple hundred yards away from our  camp spot so we did. We found a cute 5 foot waterfall that we had a blast jumping off of. The larger waterfall was over 100 feet and you couldn't really get to close without getting pushed away by heavy currents. Lisa and I tried to swim as close as we could, but yeah, it was pretty hard. Once the sun started to go down and we started to get cold, we headed back to camp for some food.
     We thought our camp spot would be great because we were shaded, but holy monkey, all night long it was so hot. We think the rock wall surrounding us just absorbed the heat all day then spat it back at us all through the night. Lisa and I had planned on playing a card game before bed, but we were so hot we just used the playing cards like a fan to attempt to cool us a little bit.
     After a LONG, HOT night, we woke up bright and early to steal someone's old camp spot. We moved everything from one location to another. This spot was perfect. It was big, open, shaded by lots of trees, we were right next to the water, and we even had a couple of picnic tables. I say it was definitely worth the move.
     The plan for today, (Friday 6/14/13), was to hike down to two sets of falls. One was called Moony Falls, the other was called Beaver Falls. Beaver was supposed to have some great cliff jumping and cool caves, but it was a 2.5 mile hike from camp. We did it anyway. To hike to Beaver, you have to hike to Moony first. Now the hike to Moony is quite impressive. You have to hike down the side of a 100 foot, if not more, cliff using ladders and chains. If you think Angels landing is steep, wait till you hike down this! I actually enjoyed it. I love the feeling of rock climbing, so having to find your foot holds and hand holds while holding on to a chain for your life was quite exhilarating. Everyone made it down safely which was good.
      The hike to Beaver Falls can be done 2 ways, via trail, or via the river. We decided that it was hot so we were going to basically hike down the river until we found it. It took us a really long time. Mostly because 3 people were carrying expensive cameras that couldn't get wet. Maneuvering through the water and down all the baby waterfalls was a feat like none other. When the water started to get waist hight and higher more frequently, we just hit up the trail and continued from there. We got to climb up and down more ladders but eventually we got to the Falls.
    I know I haven't described anything for you but I will try. Think of the amazing blue green color of Hawaii water, only its in a river and cascading down multiple sets of waterfalls. Then you have to picture that all of this lush green beautifulness is squished between the walls of a 200 foot red rock canyon in the middle of the desert. Its indescribable almost. You see pictures and think they have been photoshopped, but they haven't. Havasu Pai, looks like it shouldn't exist, but somehow it does. I think it is almost more breath taking than some of the sights I saw in Hawaii.
     Anyway, once we got to the falls we had some lunch, then played in the water. We did some swimming around, we did some waterfall jumping, and we tossed a frisbee around. Lisa and I never found the caves we were looking for, but thats okay because we still had a blast.
      We did have a young man in our group named Brad who jumped off a waterfa

ll and didn't land in the right spot. He probably jumped 10-15 feet and landed in like 3-4 feet of water. He couldn't walk after that. It was really scary. His foot started swelling up, we didn't have an ice pack, and the hike back to camp was up hill and almost 3 miles away. Thankfully Lisa is an almost nurse, and was able to jump in and cool the tension a little bit. Brad was definitely a trooper. He was able to painfully hike back out.
    While half the group was helping Brad hike out, another half of us, (Me included), decided to give them breathing room and slowly make our way back to camp. We found a great spot to cliff jump that was around 40-50 feet up. After Brad's lovely experience we were all a little hesitant to jump, but we watched several other tourists do it. They saw us watching and badgered us and pressured us until we gave in and jumped off. Me and three other guys jumped off the cliff. It was kind of scary. I feel like I have jumped off higher, but I guess emotions were high so I was a little nervous.
      We all made it safely to the bottom, but the climb out was actually a lot scarier than the jump in. We had to scale up the side of a cliff with just a rope with knots tied in it. There was about a 20 foot drop if you fell, and you would land on rocks, not water, so a mess up was basically fatal. A couple of the boys went first, they took their time and made their way up. When it was my turn, I had my friend Eric give me a boost up, then I guess my rock climbing skills kicked in and I was up in no time. The other boys said I had the most graceful, skilled looking ascent. Luckily Eric is pretty tall because he came up last and didn't have anyone to give him a leg up. But we all made it and decided to head back before anything happened to us.
      On the way back we kind of dilly dallied. We stopped at a few over looks and took some pictures. When we got to Moony Falls, we of course, had to play in it. We found the small caves that were supposedly near Mooney falls and explored them a little bit. Jeff, an awesome guy in the group, borrowed my goggles and explored everything. It was so funny to watch him just looking around and checking everything out. Once we finished with the caves, we tried to get as close to Moony as we could. It was hard. Moony Falls is quite a bit higher than Havasu, that we had played in yesterday. The water wasn't deep, but the mist that came off the falls was like little daggers to your skin. The closer you got, the more painful it got. Naturally, we didn't get very close, but we did get some great pictures.
     We figured that Brad and the others would ta
ke a long time, and even if we were slow we would be able to catch up to them. We actually never caught up to them. They were speedy quick getting back. I don't really know how they did it, but they did. Once we were done goofing around we climbed up our ladders and chains to get back to camp. We got back to camp, shared our stories, showed our pictures, then figured out dinner.
     The plan was to hike out tomorrow, (Saturday), afternoon so we would have more time to play in the falls. The biggest concern was getting Brad out. Laura, also managed to trip in the river and sprain her ankle, so she was a concern too. Laura planned on taking a horse out, but Brad thought he might be able to hike out. Some of our group planned to send their packs up on a mule so they wouldn't have to carry them out, so they kind of discussed what they were going to do in the morning as well. Once everything was settled, and dinner was cleaned up, we got together and played scum.

     After games we went to bed. I slept SO much better tonight than the previous night. It was still a little warm, but I wasn't dying at all. I was able to sleep comfortably and even used my blanket at around 3 in the morning. At 5ish someone got up, so I got up. Not that I wanted to, I just couldn't sleep. I started packing up my bags and getting things ready for the hike out. Sadly I woke up Lisa and got her out of bed earlier than she was hoping. The people in our group that paid to have their packs packed out on a mule had to have everything packed and put away, and at the drop off spot by 7 AM. While they were getting their stuff all packed and ready, I kind of packed my stuff up too. I even snuck some of my bulky items into their packs so I would have a little lighter of a pack for the way out.
     Now, Laura, with the sprained ankle had planned to have a horse carry her out, so she went up to get
her ride out, and we decided that Brad, whose ankle was completely swollen more than double, and black and blue, was not going to hike out. We set out to try and figure some arrangements out for him. We were able to secure Laura with a helicopter ride out so Brad could take her horse. Laura left to catch her flight, and Brad waited at the bottom to get his ride. But the thing is, his horse never came. The Natives decided that there wasn't a horse. Then they decided there was, but he needed to pay for it up front, so Brad limped back to camp to get his money, he got back and the locals told him the horse left and he shouldn't have left to get his money. Brad was quite frustrated by this point. We were all back at camp waiting to leave so we weren't aware of everything that was going on with Brad. Lyndsey and Lisa disappeared at some point and we were ready to leave. We checked the out houses, no sign, so we gathered up their belongings and prayed that they would be at the waiting point with Brad.
    We met up with Brad who said that Lyndsey left to try and catch up with all of the horses to see if she could convince them to come back and get Brad. Lisa realized that Lyndsey left without any water, so she sprinted up the trail to catch her sister so she wouldn't get dehydrated. All the while Brad was waiting, irritated at the bottom. He told us that he was sick of the crap going on and he just wanted to get started heading up to the village so maybe they could work something out. We all left to get Brad to the village.
     About a mile up the trail the leaders of the pack stopped at the Lower Navajo waterfalls. The plan was to play in the water until around 3 then hike out after that. So several boys kept going with Brad while the rest of us waited at the waterfalls for everyone. About ten minutes later everyone met up at the falls. I guess once Lyndsey got to the village, the Natives directed her to the police department, who actually understood our situation and got us some help. Lisa found Lyndsey and together they headed down to find us. The police were driving a gator type vehicle which they were able to pick up Brad in about the same time Lisa and Lyndsey met up with them. They took him up to the village where he was able to catch a chopper to the top.
      Now that it was about 10 AM, we had all the drama sorted out, and we were all ready to play in the falls. Lower Navajo has a maybe 20ish foot waterfall that you can jump off of. After all the stinky stuff that had happened previously, I wasn't too thrilled about jumping off, but some how all the boys convinced me to jump. It was actually super fun. Lisa and I just had two more times. We had no injuries thankfully. Everyone took turns jumping off the waterfall, and diving into the water from a small ledge behind the falls. When we had our fill for a little and were hungry, we took a lunch break.
      After lunch we went up to the upper part of Navajo. It was amazing. There was a waterfall that
was about 30is feet tall, but it was wider than it was tall. It came down from the trees and made everything look lush and green. In the midst of the waterfalls was a naturally made "hot tub." It seriously looked like a hot tub in the middle of the pools. It was pretty sweet, but alas, it was not hot. Troy, a super adventurous mountain man, found the equivalent of a lazy river as well. It took you between a small underwater canyon and out into another set of pools. We put on Lisa's goggles and watched under water and it was even cooler. It looked like a coral reef, but no plants or fish, just the coral looking part. It was really cool. We messed around and played for another few hours before getting out and preparing to hike.
     We left the falls at around three in the afternoon. I was dreading the hike out because the hike in had been SOO hot. This was going to be up hill and I honestly thought it was going to be unbearably hot. But it wasn't! We had a lot of shady parts getting to the village, and once we left the village the sun was behind the canyon walls. We walked in shade almost the whole entire time we were hiking out. We were also fortunate enough to have a coolish breeze blow through the canyon quite frequently. We expected to take about 6 to 7 hours to get out because it had taken us around 5 to get in. But some how we hiked out in about 3.5 hours. Don't ask me how we did it, but we did.
      If any of you have been to Havasu Pai, you know that to get out of the canyon you have to take some really nasty switch backs up. There is a lot of elevation climb in a very very short amount of time. I was dreading that part. I was tired and sore and I didn't know how it would work out, but I cruised up them. I don't know how, but I just didn't stop. Brett hiked up the switch backs with me and we kept each other going. Mountain man Troy, and Greg hiked out way before anyone else, left their packs at the top and came down for more. Apart from those two beating me to the top, and Troy beating me again the second time he went up, Brett and I were the next ones to reach the top. Well Eric did beat us, but still, we were pretty close to the front of our group when we finished.
      We made it. All of us eventually made it to the top. We took our celebratory pictures, then gathered up our belongings to head back to Kingman. We found all the packs that the mules had brought up, got them to their owners, then started the hike to the cars, (some of our cars were close to a mile away from the trailhead). After we loaded up and headed out, we left for Denny's. MMM real food after 3 days! We had our dinner at around 11 at night, but it was totally worth it.
      I can't believe how amazing it was in Havasu Pai. My only regret is that Paul couldn't be there with me. I plan to take him there some day to see it. If you have never been there, I truly suggest getting yourself in shape for an 11 mile hike and spending a few days there. It should be considered one of the wonders of the world. It is incredible! Can't wait to go back. Until then, I better get ready for girls camp. Its coming up next on the list of summer adventures.

The 4th Year Hike

     For the past few months I have been planning a small backpacking trip that I would take the 15 year old young women on for part of their girls camp certification. I found a trail that I thought would be great. The trail is in Pine Valley, and the few times that I had been there I thought that it would be just what the girls needed. Little did I realize, it truly would be just what some of those girls needed.

     We met for our hike Friday morning at 7:00 AM. Here we had breakfast and did a run down of
what we were going to do. After everyone had eaten, we loaded up and headed to the trail head. We got there at about 10:00 and Started the trek at about 10:30. The first few miles were pretty easy. Not too much up hill, but just enough to let your muscles know that they were working. Paul lead the pack, I was in the middle, and the Melling family brought up the rear. When we hit our first water crossing, a girl that had previously been sick was feeling a little bit sicker, so Corri Melling volunteered to take her home. Leaving her husband Mark to continue to bring up the rear. A few miles in we decided we needed to pump water. Some of the girls didn't have water bladders, so their small bottles were empty sooner than we had planned on. We pumped, had a break, then continued on our way again.
     By this point in the hike the uphill really started to kick in. The group became separated because Paul had a quick pace and a few girls kept up with him. Several girls were completely exhausted already, and another girl was having trouble with her knees. We were only 1/4 of the way to our goal and already having problems. This worried me a little bit. But I said a prayer and felt confident that everything would work out. We pumped water one more time, and told the girls that the next 5 miles we would not be able to pump water so they needed to drink, but conserve what they could for the more difficult parts of our hike.
      We continued up the ups, and down the downs until well after noon. I was hungry, I am sure the girls we hungry, and we were a ways from where I had wanted to have lunch. I thought we were closer than we were. We would take a turn, and I would think we were "almost there" but really, we weren't. The long stretch of hike was wearing these girls down. One strong young women began to cry a little bit. This was so hard for me. I wanted to help her, but there wasn't a whole lot that I could do. I tried comfort and strengthen her, but I don't think that helped very much. From that point until lunch, we had to take it little by little. We would go on for a few steps, then stop and break. Then go on for a few more steps, then stop again. Finally we reached the meadow where everyone was having lunch. I could feel the sense of relief not only in my countenance, but also this young women's as well.
     We stopped and ate, and some of us were smart and took a nap. When everyone was refreshed, or close enough to it,  we continued on our way. We hadn't gotten too far when another young women broke into tears. She was blessed to come on the hike with the worst cramps she says she has had. It was getting to the point where the pressure from her pack on her abdomen made it impossible for her to move. We had her take off her pack. Several girls volunteered to help carry it for awhile. We took turns carrying her pack to relieve her of what pain we could. The spirit at this moment in time was incredible. I couldn't help but stand in awe how all those young women worked together, and rose to the occasion. We weren't hiking the easiest of terrain, but they found the strength within themselves to go above and beyond so everyone could reach our goal. This cute girl kept continually apologizing, but I finally told her not to apologize, and I thanked her for giving all of us the opportunity to love one another, serve, and grow spiritually. While she may have felt guilty for not being able to carry her pack, I was truly blessed by that experience.
     We hit a fork in the trail which meant only 3 miles to camp. The downside is that 2 of them are basically switchbacks up the side of the mountain in the sun. We were already low on water, but to hike up steep terrain with limited water frightened me a little bit. I continued to pray in my heart that we would have the strength and means to get every one of these girls up to the top of the summit. It was a very slow and tedious process. Another girl got to the point where she also could no longer carry her pack. We were blessed to have the priesthood with us to help us to help carry this girl's pack. Slowly we made it up the side of the mountain. Breaks were a constant occurrence. For some, I think that is what gave them the strength to keep going.
     We reached the first overlook of the hike. This view gave you a glimpse of Snow Canyon, and the lands beyond. It was breath taking. But the girls say the next view was even more impressive. We continued to work our way up and up. I thought it was only 3 more switch backs, it was actually 6 more, but after 6 more switchbacks we were at the summit. It overlooked all of Southern Utah. You could see Zions, Sand Hollow, St. George, Snow Canyon, and for miles and miles around. We even found the  temple! Looking over at everything appeared to give the girls strength and confidence to continue our hike.
     Thankfully we had reached the summit and all we had to do was go downhill. Well, there were a few up hills, but mostly they were down. At this point several girls were out of water, and many others were getting close. We shared what we had and even filled up some bottles with snow just in case we ran completely out. We hiked down and through the forest. Last time I was here, the trail was completely covered with snow. This time the snow was melted and the trip wasn't long at all. Our spirits were high as we walked downhill, in the shade. We soon hiked out of the trees and into a beautiful meadow. I was helping out at the back of the pack. Most of the girls were already in camp and setting up tents by the time I got there, but it was amazing to reach the meadow just the same.
     Dinner consisted of mountain house lasagna and pasta. It was divine. All the girls brought their own food, and basically everyone shared bites of what they had with everyone else. It was kind of fun. Mark Melling brought up a lovely dessert of pudding with chocolate chips. The pudding tasted fantastic after our hours and hours of trekking through the wilderness. I thought that the girls would crash and sleep after dinner, but to my surprise, they actually started to wake up and get excited about everything.
     We had a mini devotional around the fire. We had each of the girls share their personal experience about the hike. It was really spiritual to hear what they had to say, and how they were strengthened through the hike. Paul ended with his testimony, and we all sort of calmed down after that and went to sleep. Pretty sure I slept like a rock. I did toss and turn a little bit, but part way into the night, I slept and didn't wake up. It was wonderful!

      Paul got up seriously at the crack of dawn. I tried to sleep in, but he got all the girls riled up and excited for the new day. They fetched the bear bags (our bags of food we hung from the trees), and got a fire started. I continued to "sleep". Finally after all the girls were up and eating, Lisa, and I rolled out of bed and started to get ready for the day. Thankfully, I wasn't sore like I thought I would be. We ate and packed up our bags and got ready for the trek out of the canyon.
     The trip back wasn't nearly as daunting as coming to the campsite. We were mostly going down hill all day. There was a section of switch backs up the side of a mountain, but everyone did great on those. Everyone was able to carry their packs and no one had trouble today. The switch backs down were the killer part. Girls started to get blisters, ankles were hurting, and I was definitely feeling it in my knees and quads! We made it to our lunch spot, had lunch, then kept trudging down the mountain. We made really good time. We started our trip at 10:20 and every one of us was to the truck at the bottom by about 2:30 ish.
       As I reflect on the whole trip, I truly am grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of this wonderful adventure. I spend only two short days with those girls, but I know each of their names, and I was able to see their personalities come out a little bit. We have some amazing young women in our stake and I am truly honored to have spent so much time with them. They are amazing, strong, and exactly what I hope my future children will be like.

Youth Conference

     Most of the time youth conference is only for 14 years old and up. For some reason our Bishop decided to let the deacons and beehives go this year. That meant that both Paul and I got to go with them. Paul decided that he would only come for a portion of the time. He is continually keeping up with all the work and homework that continues to pile up.

     The first day of our conference we took the kids down to St. George. We took them to visit the Jacob Hamblin home and took a tour of the house. After the tour of the house, we took our group to the visitors center at the St. George Temple. We had the kids watch a few videos, and explore the visitors center. After that we went and did baptisms. Being a leader, and sharing those experiences with the youth in the temple are beyond words. We finished at the temple and treated the kids to pizza then drove home.

     Friday is where the real adventures with our kids began. We loaded up the cars and drove to Marysvale, Utah. Here we had the kids do a series of zip lines as well as a ropes course. For me, I was in my element. It was AWESOME and I loved it!!! But for most of the girls, and some of the boys they were a little intimidated. A lot of them shared their fear of heights and had a hard time overcoming that fear, but once they did, they were thrilled and actually enjoyed themselves.
   
We spent the night camping at Big Rock Candy Mountain. The kids had a great time playing flag football right in the middle of our tents. No worries though, they only dove into one tent, and knocked into several cars. No damage was done though, and they
had a great time. We had a quick dinner and a testimony meeting afterwords. The testimonies of these kids were amazing. I know that I was truly strengthened by each of their words. I am so humbled that I was able to be a part of that wonderful experience.
     After a long cold night of freezing my pants of, the morning was quite
 welcoming. I did not sleep well at
all. I was freezing cold and just couldn't get my feet warm. The morning was quite welcoming after being so cold. Once we had camp all cleaned up we took off for a hike. This hike was supposed to be an easy, leisurely hike, but I am afraid it was a little harder on the kids than I thought. They loved though. It lead to a series of waterfalls, and it was gorgeous. But getting there, the trail was very steep and not quite as friendly as I imagined it would be. We all made it though. The kids had a great time playing in the water and goofing off. After the hike we ate a
sack lunch and headed home.

     The weekend was completely draining both physically and emotionally, but, it was one of the most rewarding experiences I had. The kids grew together. Their testimonies grew, and they had fun. I am so grateful for the experiences I get to have with them. They are a testimony to me of the amazing truthfulness of the gospel.