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diff --git a/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md b/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md deleted file mode 100644 index 5802b18..0000000 --- a/src/md/16_Survival_Journal_Week3.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,158 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: Survival Journal - Week 3 ---- - -_This week was no picnic because it is called -Survival Week. It is one week of actually eating only what we could find -on the trail. In the desert of southern Utah, there isn't much to eat, -so it was nearly about 5 days of fasting._ - -## Sunday, August 5 -Sundays in the wild are always special. Priesthood was at -nine and Sacrament meeting right after. I spent most of the afternoon -reading. That night at 7:30 we had a fireside. Our family sang a song -with a couple of made-up verses to the tune of "Where Oh Where Are You -Tonight". Chuck and Sharon are a married couple, accompanying our group -as instructors. See the made-up verses below. - -> Old Chuck was a desert rat, grubby and smelly.\ -> For some crazy reason the desert he'd roam.\ -> He crawled through the sand on his chin and his belly.\ -> The canyons and badlands, he called them his home. - -> Chorus:\ -> Where, oh where are you tonight?\ -> Why did you leave me here all alone?\ -> I searched the world over and thought I found true love.\ -> You found another and phphttt!! you was gone. - -> Now Sharon, his sweetheart, was orn'ry and lanky.\ -> Just like a tough snake she was wiry and lean.\ -> She'd blow her big nose on her sleeve or her hanky.\ -> She was tougher than any guy you've ever seen. - -> Chorus:\ -> Where, oh where are you tonight?\ -> Why did you leave me here all alone?\ -> I searched the world over and thought I found true love.\ -> You found another and phphttt!! you was gone. - -## Monday, August 6 -Monday was the prelude to Survival Week where we live off of the land -for the whole week. We left our camp near Bull Mountain at noon and -hiked about 7 miles into the Henry Mountains. It was a steady climb all -the way and our campsite was at well over 9000 ft. All along the way -Sharon showed us what was edible and what was not. We found such things -as pinion nuts, wild onion, elder berries, currents, raspberries, -dandelions and yaro. Some of it tasted good, but most of it tasted -bitter or tasteless. That night was the coldest one I have had to endure -out here yet. - -## Tuesday, August 7 -Tuesday morning, we ate the last of the food that we had in our food -packs. It consisted of unsweetened oatmeal, boiled grain and fried -jerky. We hiked about three miles that day to Crescent Creek for our -next campsite. The leaders give us trap making and map reading lessons -along the way. We also gathered all the food we could find for dinner -and breakfast the next morning. We ended up with hordes of wild onion -and only a few handfuls of currents and service berries. I also spent -several hours roasting pinion pinecones over a fire to extract the seeds -from them. My effort yielded about 2 pop cans full of green tasteless -pinion seeds. - -That afternoon a Sister Nina Robinson was driven out from her home in -Hanksville to speak to us. She was an expert naturalist and told us much -about what plants we could eat. That night we had a short fireside, and -I ended the day by calling a family prayer. - -## Wednesday, August 8 -Wednesday, we rose early for a sunrise service with all of our staff -leaders. They each took their turn to talk to us about temple marriage -and the family unit. It was a very spiritual meeting and I enjoyed it -immensely. After the meeting the entire staff left us, not to rejoin us -until we reached base camp on Saturday. We now had to function on our -own as a united group. Before they left, the staff told us that very -few groups came in after survival week united and together. They -felt we had the strength to do it and felt the weight of the challenge. -Before breaking camp, we cooked our morning meal of wild onion soup, -service berry tea and pennyroyal tea. The onion soup, which we had had -the night before also was not very nourishing. The broth was good, but -the onions were like chewing on old hey. I liked the berry broth quite -well, but the pennyroyal was nasty. - -We hiked about three miles that day to our next campsite, gathering -pinion cones, onions, dandelions, and a few more berries. Already the -lack of nourishing food was beginning to zap my strength. I found myself -drawing within not eager to socialize but only wanting to suffer alone. -I was not pleased with my performance as part of the group that day. -When we got to camp, we all sat around the fire and roasted pinion -cones while someone read talks from the April Conference. It did -much to bring us together and function efficiently as a group. That -night after dinner of nuts, berries, and tea, we had a short fireside -and retired to bed early. Before going to sleep I prayed that the Lord -would lift my spirits and give me the strength to endure this trial. - -## Thursday, August 9 -Thursday morning, I felt nauseated and weak, but the spirits of the -group were high and helped to cheer me up. My suffering was not as great -as some of the others, for I helped to give a blessing to one of the -girls who had been a family mother with me in the previous week. -Breakfast was a handful of green pinion nuts and a little berry tea. We -hiked seven miles that day to Box Springs. We are still in the Henry -Mountains and the scenery was beautiful. Our attitudes were good, and it -was a great experience to feel the love of the group that day as we -hiked. All were helping one another and cheering each other up. The -going was slow and laborious. I would pant as if I were running, from a -slow walk up a slight uphill grade. Once I sat down it was a terrific -effort to get up again. We collected quite a bit of food that day -compared to the others. We had pinion cones, currents and elder berries. -After arriving at the Springs we again listened to conference talks -as we roasted pinion cones. We were then given an hour of time to -ourselves at which time I am now caught up with my journal. -The flies are driving me crazy, but I am too -tired to brush them off. Actually, I can still count my blessings. Most -of my feet troubles are gone and with luck we may reach camp tomorrow -night. I sure do miss my parents, family and the comforts home though. - -## Friday, August 10 -Last night we had another short fireside in which we -read the account of the birth of Christ and acted it out. I was a wise -man. - -The Revenge has finally hit me. I have to run into the bushes frequently -now. All I had for breakfast was some elder berries and hot water. We -broke camp early today because our goal is to reach base camp before -dark. Our destination is Cass Peak Reservoir which is 16 miles away. -This distance seems an impossibility to me in my present state of being. -Our group is still united though and together with the Lord's help, I -know we can make it. We started hiking at 8:15 and I felt sick and weak -most of the morning. At about the halfway point we found a little creek -where we stopped to rest for an hour and eat some currents and elder -berries we had found. It ended up being nearly two hours before we left -again. We trudged on through the heat of the day and I concentrated on -putting one foot in front of the other. Finally, we crossed Stanton pass -and as we descended into the valley, we spied the reservoir in the -distance. I think I know how the pioneers must have felt when they had -their first glimpse of the Salt Lake Valley. I nearly came to tears of -happiness. There were shouts of joy and many burst into singing. We -still had three miles to go, but our spirits were high, and our tired -bodies strengthened from the sight. As we rounded the last bend, united -and together, we sang "Shall the Youth of Zion Falter". We had done it -and we were grateful. Immediately, we knelt in prayer to offer our -thanks. It was 7 o'clock when we arrived. It had taken us about 9 hours -of hiking to cover those 16 miles. - -My first action was to unroll my bedroll and collapse into sleep. I had -to get up and head for the bushes 3 times during the night to avoid -disaster. When I awoke the next morning on Saturday, I felt incredibly -weak. I dosed until 11:30 when we held a short service on fasting and -its purpose. I now know or have a deeper understanding of what true -humility is. I have never felt so humbled before in my life. The rest of -the day and tomorrow until fast and testimony meeting will be spent in -prayer and scripture reading. Saturday afternoon seemed very long. Most -of us were just waiting it out until the staff came with food. I read -parts of the D & C and Jonathon Livingston Seagull. My case of Revenge -has dried up, mainly because it has emptied me completely out. I have -never had such a hollow feeling before. Saturday night was long too. -It's like waiting all night for Christmas morning. I often indulged in -dreams of all the good foods I've ever eaten. |