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diff --git a/src/md/15_Survival_Journal_week2.md b/src/md/15_Survival_Journal_week2.md deleted file mode 100644 index 03bc901..0000000 --- a/src/md/15_Survival_Journal_week2.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,146 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: Survival Journal - Week 2 ---- - -_This week was called Group Expedition Week. It -should have been rather straightforward but getting lost in the desert -complicated everything. To this day, I still don't know where we were._ - -## Sunday, July 29 -We held priesthood meeting at 8am Sunday morning and -Sacrament Meeting right after that. For the Sacrament we used ash cakes -and canteens. Both meetings were very special. We spent the afternoon -carving spoons and recuperating from Impact. That evening we had a -fireside with singing and guitars. It was all very pleasant and made us -forget about our previous troubles and suffering. - -## Monday-Tuesday, July 30-31 -This week is called group expedition week. Each day a -leader is chosen by the group to lead them. We divided into one boys -group and two girls groups. The student leader for the day is given a -map and told where to go. The staff leaders will hike along with us, but -they will offer no help after we start. - -As leader for Monday, we chose Mark. After breaking camp at about 8 am, -our first big obstacle was to find a way out of Big Springs Canyon. We -were very anxious to get a good head-start on the girls groups so we -could beat them to Beaver Wash on Wednesday. This is where the three -groups were to come together again. The boys group claimed they would be -there a whole day ahead of the girls. - -After an hour of searching, we finally decided to try ascending a very -steep cliff. It scared me to death to climb that thing. Several times my -handholds gave away and sent rocks showering down the canyon. It was a -miracle no one was hurt on the way up. We gave thanks to the Lord when -we arrived at the top. - -We spent until about 1:30 pm walking on dirt roads. Our progress was -extremely fast and our confidence of beating the girls rose pretty high. - -At 1:30 we needed water pretty badly, so we decided to look for Outlaw -Springs. Lynn and I were sent out to scout while the rest of the group -stayed back. Ted later joined us with the map. We were quite sure we had -found the way to the springs, but we were very thirsty, so we stopped a -few minutes at a little seep we had stumbled onto. Then Lynn went back -to bring the rest of the group. - -Ted and I had waited for an awfully long time when Lynn came back to -tell us that the rest of the group was gone. We decided that they must -have become impatient and went the long way around rather than wait for -us to find the shorter way down a steep drop-off. - -We thought we could meet them at the springs so we forged ahead. We -didn't see them where we thought the spring was, so we pushed on to Mule -Seep. Our intended campsite was on Han's Flat Road just above the seep. -We felt sure we would meet them at the seep, so we waited there for 2 -hours. It was getting dark, so we headed for the road. We came out at a -ranger station to find that we were 5 miles off course. When we finally -got to the campsite it was quite dark and no one was there. I was about -to die of thirst when a guy from the ranger station rode up on his -motorcycle and showed us where some rain pots were. I was down in the -valley where the water was when I decided to go to the edge of the -overhang and give a big shout. 200 feet below was what we thought was -Mule Seep and I thought maybe the others of our group mighty be there by -now. I yelled once and got no answer. I heard echoes all through the -valley and felt that if the others were near, they would have heard it. -I didn't yell again and was walking back when I heard an answer. Our -leaders, Butch and Sundance, were over on a far ridge. We yelled and -made sparks from our flint and steel until we located each other. When -we got together it was a joyful reunion indeed. - -We walked back to the road and set up camp for the five of us. Then we -sat down to discuss what had happened. Apparently, the rest of the group -had thought they were supposed to take the long way to the springs when -we scouts failed to return promptly. When we didn't show up at the -Springs, they just stayed there the rest of the day while the leaders -looked for us. Sundance told me that he and Butch had given up and were -kneeling in prayer when they heard my call. He said he just started to -cry and finished the prayer before calling back. - -The whole incident caused the boys group to lose about 24 hours of time. -We started hiking again after the main group rejoined us on Han's Flat -Road at about 2 pm Tuesday afternoon. Since we were late, we hiked until -1 am in the morning to reach Granary Springs. The hiking was all on -roads, so the way was easy to find, but it was a real test of endurance. -I had blisters on both feet and a frayed Achilles tendon on my right -heel. We often called upon the Lord for strength. - -## Wednesday, August 1 -Wednesday I was chosen group leader. This was the day we were to hike -through Robber's Roost Canyon. We started to work better as a group and -had no major problems finding the route. The canyon was really a -challenge. It was my job to go first and decide whether or not to use -ropes. On one occasion I ended up sliding down a 20-foot drop headfirst. -I decided we had better use ropes for the rest of the group. We camped -in the canyon at dark that night and I tasted some porcupine that GI Joe -(Bruce) had killed. - -## Thursday-Friday, August 2-3 -Thursday we were very anxious to get to Beaver Wash ahead of the girls -groups, so we could go swimming. We came out of Robber's Roost to the -Dirty Devil River. We crossed the river and followed it toward Angel -Cove Springs. Just as we were rounding the last bend toward the springs, -we looked back to see Judy's girls group only a quarter mile behind. It -was a real blow to our ego, and we felt sure that the girls would give -us a little ribbing because we hadn't beat them to the wash by a whole -day as we said we would. - -As we left Angel Cove our staff leaders stayed back to persuade the -girls group to stay at Angel Cove long enough to allow the boys to swim -a while at Beaver Wash. We still had several hours of hiking to do on -our own before we arrived at the pool. Contentions soon arose and the -spirit of cooperation and brotherhood soon left us. Finally, we just -stopped in Beaver Canyon to talk it out. We decided that it - -was our lack of cooperation and unwillingness to fully respect and -follow our group leaders that had gotten us so far behind. It was a real -lesson in humility to realize that by working together the girls group -had performed better than we had. When we started hiking again, we made -much better progress and enjoyed a much-needed cool swim at the wash. - -The girls group led by Judy came in that evening and the last girls -group came in Friday morning. The girls took their turn swimming, and we -broke camp and left about noon Friday. It took us the entire afternoon -to hike to our water drop at the edge of the Burr Desert. After our -evening meal we decided to cross the nine-mile desert at night. It was -already dark, and many were nearly exhausted. I knew it would be another -test of endurance and will. We had a particularly weak girl in my -family, Janet, for whom we had already had to carry her pack that -afternoon. We had only gone a few miles when we had to help her along by -putting her arms around the neck of a person on each side of her. I -don't know why the bigger ones are usually the weaker ones, but Janet -was a big girl. The night seemed to drag on forever and for many it -seemed like a nightmare. We sang songs to keep our spirits up and pass -the time faster. Finally, we arrived at an irrigation ditch on a ranch -at about 2:30 am. We all dropped in our tracks after a prayer of thanks. -We had prayed for strength on the trail many times too. - -## Saturday, August 4 -Saturday, we arose and hiked the remaining 4 miles to base camp without -breakfast. After eating and setting up camp we rested through the middle -of the day. That afternoon we had a meeting to organize new families and -stress the importance of life, before we slaughtered our sheep. I was -again privileged to be a father and our family's assignment was to skin -the ewe. It was a messy job, but we got it done. The meat was a real -treat after our bland diets of oatmeal and ash cakes that week. We -jerkied 1/3 of it and divided the rest among the 4 family groups. |