High Adventure 2020. Monsters and Miracles. Snow and Smiles. Good things and great times.
We, the Young Women, Young Women leaders, and the Bishopric of the Roy 14th Ward, spent our 2020 High Adventure weekend at the Northfork Environmental Center where we cross country skied, snowshoed, and ice fished. We also baked bread, made butter, and had a good, ole fashioned, first-grade-style, everyone-participated Show and Tell sharing time. It was a GOOD thing and we had a GREAT time.
One of the GOOD things that happened was that Troy Naylor volunteered to let me drive his truck. It is a long bed, double cab, 4-wheel drive MONSTER of a truck.. Of course I said yes. Driving his big truck, I was living the dream.
Another of the GOOD things that happened was that someone showed up to pull me out of SNOW I got stuck in. Even in 4 Wheel Low the tires just spun. .We rocked it back and forth, said a prayer, found some branches, and tried again. A few minutes later two men in a truck showed up and pulled us out. It was a minor but much appreciated MIRACLE
Snowshoeing was GOOD or GREAT, depending on the person with whom you were speaking. We climbed up a ridge, ran down into a ravine, climbed up another ridge and plowed down another ravine. Dave Jenkins (man in charge of North Fork Environmental Center) quoted the scripture “Man is that he might have joy” and then told us that when we reached the Celestial Kingdom God would hand us a pair of cross country skis/snowshoes and turn us loose in the mountains because experiences such as this are pure joy. It was truly beautiful--sun sparkling off the pristine SNOW that coated the tree branches and blanketed the ground, weasel tracks weaving from bush to bush, and a challenging, uphill trail. Heaven indeed.
We returned to the lodge for lunch and then headed out on the cross country skis. All the girls were all in; no complaints and no “I don’t want to do this/This is boring/I’m too cold” comments. (...which may be another miracle…) While all the girls were all in, some of them were mostly on...on the ground that is. One sweet girl really was on the mountain as much as she was on her skis. Her skis were rarely in the tracks but her SMILE never left her face.
Hike girls up a mountain in snowshoes and slide them down a slope on cross country skis and there is no need to send them to bed; they go by themselves. The girls were in bed asleep almost before the evening’s activities were over. No drama, no running wild or screaming, no shenanigans ...just slumber, which is truly a GOOD thing.
Ice fishing at Pineview was also fabulous. Honestly, I had high hopes but low expectations; I just was not sure it would work. Would we have the equipment? Would it be too cold? Would the girls engage? Yes. No. Yes. Bishop came through with the equipment, it was not too cold, and the girls engaged. We even caught fish (5-7). It was a GREAT morning of mini-MONSTERS (the fish were small), minor MIRACLES (we caught fish), horizontal SNOWmen (the snow was too powdery to pack) and many, many SMILES (look at the photos).
And then we came home. Perhaps the biggest MIRACLE of all was that all the equipment was claimed at the end of the trip. Not even one glove was left behind.
We, the Young Women, Young Women leaders, and the Bishopric of the Roy 14th Ward, spent our 2020 High Adventure weekend at the Northfork Environmental Center where we cross country skied, snowshoed, and ice fished. We also baked bread, made butter, and had a good, ole fashioned, first-grade-style, everyone-participated Show and Tell sharing time. It was a GOOD thing and we had a GREAT time.
One of the GOOD things that happened was that Troy Naylor volunteered to let me drive his truck. It is a long bed, double cab, 4-wheel drive MONSTER of a truck.. Of course I said yes. Driving his big truck, I was living the dream.
Another of the GOOD things that happened was that someone showed up to pull me out of SNOW I got stuck in. Even in 4 Wheel Low the tires just spun. .We rocked it back and forth, said a prayer, found some branches, and tried again. A few minutes later two men in a truck showed up and pulled us out. It was a minor but much appreciated MIRACLE
Snowshoeing was GOOD or GREAT, depending on the person with whom you were speaking. We climbed up a ridge, ran down into a ravine, climbed up another ridge and plowed down another ravine. Dave Jenkins (man in charge of North Fork Environmental Center) quoted the scripture “Man is that he might have joy” and then told us that when we reached the Celestial Kingdom God would hand us a pair of cross country skis/snowshoes and turn us loose in the mountains because experiences such as this are pure joy. It was truly beautiful--sun sparkling off the pristine SNOW that coated the tree branches and blanketed the ground, weasel tracks weaving from bush to bush, and a challenging, uphill trail. Heaven indeed.
We returned to the lodge for lunch and then headed out on the cross country skis. All the girls were all in; no complaints and no “I don’t want to do this/This is boring/I’m too cold” comments. (...which may be another miracle…) While all the girls were all in, some of them were mostly on...on the ground that is. One sweet girl really was on the mountain as much as she was on her skis. Her skis were rarely in the tracks but her SMILE never left her face.
Hike girls up a mountain in snowshoes and slide them down a slope on cross country skis and there is no need to send them to bed; they go by themselves. The girls were in bed asleep almost before the evening’s activities were over. No drama, no running wild or screaming, no shenanigans ...just slumber, which is truly a GOOD thing.
Ice fishing at Pineview was also fabulous. Honestly, I had high hopes but low expectations; I just was not sure it would work. Would we have the equipment? Would it be too cold? Would the girls engage? Yes. No. Yes. Bishop came through with the equipment, it was not too cold, and the girls engaged. We even caught fish (5-7). It was a GREAT morning of mini-MONSTERS (the fish were small), minor MIRACLES (we caught fish), horizontal SNOWmen (the snow was too powdery to pack) and many, many SMILES (look at the photos).
And then we came home. Perhaps the biggest MIRACLE of all was that all the equipment was claimed at the end of the trip. Not even one glove was left behind.
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