The Woodlands group is moving!
Who: Parents AND Kids
What: Cornerstone weekly meetings for The Woodlands Area
When: 7:30 PM Thursday, August 4, 2011 (Note the day of week change)
Where: StoneBridge Church
One Stonebridge Church Drive
The Woodlands, TX
Parents meet in The Lodge (main building)
Kids meet in The Bridge (youth building)
cheesy grits
It's already Friday again... just a few more days of basecamp being calm with just me and Scott. Wednesday was the first night this whole trip that we had to sleep in a tent after being woken up in the middle of the night by the rain and waking up to heavy rain all night. But the storm only lasted like 12 hours and Idaho is back to it's beautiful weather. I'm sure everyone in the field is enjoying their 24 hour solos, having some time alone after spending a week and a half with the same group of people is always refreshing. Not to mention how powerful it is to be completely alone with God with pretty much no distractions, not many teens get the chance to be free of all the noise in the world and surrounded by the beautiful outdoors. Keep the prayers comin! much love- gabe
Healthy, Happy, and Halfway Home
Resupply has come and gone...which means the halfway point and another week left before the kids will be walking out of the woods for the last time. The logistics crew (only Gabe and I now) brought in fresh food and other essentials to all the patrols. What we thought would go quickly turned into an all day affair. Mostly because we were so glad to see and be seen. We saw laughter and tears from more than one person. People crying with joy to see us!!!! That felt great and made the day all the better!
Ahead of them lies more peaks to climb, rivers to cross, and a 24-hour solo experience. The solo can be one of the most powerful components of the trip for the kids. It gives them time to rest, rejuvenate, and reflect on their lives and their wilderness experience. Some are fearful of it and some really look forward to the solitude after spending the last 10 days with the same people. I always get excited around the time for solo.
Weather here in Stanley, Idaho is 71 degrees, overcast, and a little rainy. Nice!
Check back soon for more updates and pictures...I think the logistics crew has a reservation at a natural hot spring in a few minutes. :-) Gotta go!
Love,
Scott
clouds?
Re-supply was a success! We met all 3 patrols on Monday throughout the day to re-supply them with food, fuel, and love from the outside world. I was on interview duty and was video-taping various kids about how their first week in the back country had been treating them and how they were feeling half way through. The responses I got were touching... everyone was so happy, filled with life, and dirty! Hearing about everyone's relationship with their Higher Power even just after a week reminded me of my first trip and how powerful it was to feel so close to a Higher Power. Everyone was very grateful we brought them fresh peaches as well. G.I. Joe left the logistics team and joined one of the patrols for this last week and I'm very interested to know how he is doing, keep him in your prayers he needs it for real!! Sadly we spent yesterday taking a few kids back to the airport to go home for different reasons... I know how much these trips have helped me the past few years and it really sucks to see people have to go home.
We've been bragging about the perfect weather here but today we were actually surprised with thick clouds and even some rain drops! NO WAY! Still way better than Houston's weather plus it's already clearing up :) much love- Gabe
Adios G.I. Joe
Life out here is what life should be like all the time... relaxing and beautiful!! I try to stay away from the thoughts that one day I will again be surrounded by tons of cars and tall buildings instead of the beautiful landscape out here with the closest town's population of 100.
We set out Friday night for a little over night adventure to get Joe some actual camping experience before releasing him to the wild tomorrow without his baby wipes, lil wayne, and ghetto attitude :) After climbing a couple thousand feet from basecamp attempting to peak Williams Peak we had to turn around because... actually I dont know why we turned around. None the less is was absolutely beautiful up there, I am constantly filled with gratitude since I've been out here and views of the back country from 9,000 ft are amazing. We almost lost Joe on the way down with him being deaf and all and not hearing our hoots but luckily we found him stumbling down the hill.
We are here in Ketchum today getting some fresh fruits and veggies for the patrols we will be seeing tomorrow for resupply! I know I was sure glad after a week in the woods to get some fresh fruit and even some M&M's. Joe is leaving the logistics crew tomorrow to head out with a patrol after getting re-supply, I know I am going to miss him and all his jokes a lot but cant wait to see the growth in just a week completely out of his comfort zone.
Still not missing Houston... but missing all our friends back home. Much love- Gabe
Look Out Below!
Gooooooooooooooooooood Mooooorrrrrrnnnnnniiiiinnnnnnngggggggg CSALP fans,
Gi Joe here, reporting from beautiful sunny Kethcum, Idaho. The Logisitics team ELE is here today acquiring all the supplies that are needed for the resupply tomorrow. News from the field is business as usual; a few scrapes here, sore muscles there, but for most part everyone is good to go.
As for ELE, that last couple of days have been very exciting. Friday Scott, Gabe, and I set out to conquer Williams Peak, which is the 6th highest peak in the Sawtooth Mountains! We made to about 1,000 ft from the peak and the only thing that stood in our way was according to Scott “a 4th class ridge” so it was determined that due to unsafe and unpredictable climbing conditions we should turn around and start the trek back down the mountain. It was an equally exciting and terrifying experience for me considering I had never done anything like that in my life. Climbing up the last peak before we turned around; my chest felt like it was going to explode, my senses were heightened, my concentration was at an all time high, and I was throwing up some pretty intense prayers to God. Which seemed fitting because geographically speaking I had never been closer to Him, I could have sworn I was eye to eye with the clouds! It was definitely an experience that I will NEVER forget and one I never want to repeat again! I am so grateful to Scott and Gabe for showing me one of the most incredible sights that my eyes will ever see. The beauty that I witnessed at the top of that mountain can not be accurately described with words.
Most likely this will be my last blog because tomorrow at resupply I am hooking up with one of the patrols and joining them in the field for the rest of the trip! The time I have spent working logistics has been an amazing learning and growing experience for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Scott and Gabe and will indubitably never forget this part of the trip!
So for the last time God bless, take care, and ELE!
Love,
Gi Joe, out…
Idaho...more than just potatoes!
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The Sawtooth Wilderness
Photo update!
Read all of Idaho...more than just potatoes!
Mosquito Madness
Life in these mountains would be nothing less than idyllic if it weren't for our little flying "friends" that swarm our camp most of the day and every night. Houston has NOTHING on these mosquitoes here...I'm pretty sure I saw a small child with a mullet being carried downwind last night. Oh well...one less mullet to make fun of I guess. They say it's only the female mosquitoes that bite...hmm, now why would that be?
Here's some mosquito facts for you:
- A mosquito only weighs 1/25,000 of an ounce.
- Mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other living creature.
- There are over 2,500 species of mosquitoes scattered throughout the world.
- Hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes are born every day.
- Most adult mosquitoes live for about two weeks.
- Only female mosquitoes bite—they need the protein for their eggs.
- Male mosquitoes survive by sucking on nectar and other plant juices.
- The welt that appears after a mosquito bites is an allergic reaction to the saliva that is injected into your skin to prevent your blood from clotting.
- Mosquitoes rarely travel farther than 300 feet from their birthplace.
- Light colors are less attractive to mosquitoes than dark colors; thus, mosquitoes are more likely to choose a victim wearing darker colors.
- Mosquitoes are found all over the world, even in cold places like the Arctic.
- Mosquitoes prefer dark places like trees, grass and shrubs.
- Like humans, mosquitoes have food preferences—not all mosquito species bite humans, some prefer birds, horses, frogs or turtles.
And...a little mosquito Haiku I wrote for your enjoyment:
Little blood vampires
infesting our lakeside camp
SLAP! One less sucker
And...all is good in the woods as far as the patrols go. They are changing themselves step by glorious step as they hike higher into the snow to escape....THE MOSQUITOES!!!!!
Much love,
Scott
We've Got Clouds!
Greetings CSALP fans from Idaho!
The past couple of days the weather has been in the 70s-80s without a cloud in the sky. Yesterday while I was fishing I found myself getting lost in a child like wonder when I would look up at the mountains that sat just beyond the lake. Each night that wonder steals me away again while I lie in my sleeping bag and stare up at a canopy of stars I swear God put there just for me. It reminds me of when I was in Iraq and would lie on the bed of the truck and look up into a sea of white and in that moment it didn’t matter where I was or what was occurring around me all the fear and anxiety would melt away and it would just be me and God.
This morning I awoke and surprisingly the sun wasn’t the first thing waiting to welcome me to a new day, there were clouds! Something different, which has Scott, Gabe, and I very excited. The two of them are going to hit the trail later on their bikes and I am going to try to catch more fish.
So far this trip has been an incredible growing experience for me. Everyday I am learning something new about myself, how to camp, and the wilderness in general. A good friend told me before I left for this trip to just be myself. His words have become my mantra and play over and over in my head throughout the day. I am very blessed to have been given this opportunity and am thoroughly enjoying the time I am spending with Scott and Gabe. We just finished reading the Greatest Miracle In The World last night and plan on starting The Return of The Rag Picker today. Both of them have been very patient with me and have been willing to be my teachers and answer my questions, regardless of how stupid they might be. One of my most glaring character defects has always been being too hard on myself and this trip has definitely given me a chance to work on that. Several times I have felt really stupid and insecure because my ego tells me I should know what I am doing even though I have never done this sort of thing before. The insanity of my mind baffles even me sometimes!
I love how slow the days seem to pass here, but long to see all of you as well as my friends and family.
Until next time God bless, take care, and ELE!
Love,
Joe
Fish and grits
Being on the logistics side of the trip is completely new for me, after spending the past 3 June's in the field on the cornerstone trip and taking everything I could from them it is a complete blessing to be working with Scott and Joe to show my gratitude and appreciation for the joy these trips have brought me. After a long week of washing sleeping bags, tons of food shopping, setting up base camp, and making sure everything was ready for the July trip it was a huge relief to send the patrols into the field on Monday and have some time to relax! It was definitely different for me to be running around helping each patrol get ready instead of making sure my pack was ready for the next couple weeks in the woods... but seeing the excitement on everyone's faces made me excited for them all. Idaho has been treating us well with clear skies everyday, we need nothing more than shorts and a t-shirt with this perfect weather. Along with the sunny sky comes the millions of stars we get to fall asleep looking at every night. We still miss everyone back in Houston, but definitely grateful to be out of the heat and surrounded by mountains :) MUCH LOVE - Gabe
