Survival Journal - Week 1

Week 1 consisted of two sessions of instruction and 3 days of torture, called Impact. The instruction did not mention Impact, or it would have scared everyone out of starting the course. I guess the theory was that after Impact, the rest of the course would seem like a piece of cake.

Tuesday, July 24 - 5:30 pm

Since this is my first entry, I have a little catching up to do. I feel kind of silly, writing to myself like this. The flight down from Portland was really great. Flying into Salt Lake City over the lake was quite spectacular.

I am presently at Grandma and Grandpa’s and have been visiting with them most of the afternoon. I will be staying the night with them. Our first day of instruction lasted from 9 am to noon. I was greatly surprised to find that the girls outnumber the boys 2 to 1. Many are unexpectedly very good looking while just as many are the husky, big bruiser types. I was very impressed with our leaders. There are eight of them for our group of 31. Our patriarch, Chuck, is a returned missionary and a very special person.

We spent most of the time being introduced to the course, going over equipment needs and learning people’s names. They spared few details in telling us what to expect from the course. I think it will be a very spiritual experience as well as a very severe test of endurance.

Wednesday, July 25 - 10 pm

After saying good-byes to the grand folks, I went to another session from 9 to 12. We were taught how to make bedrolls, flint and steel fires and how to take care of our feet. Afterwards we had a goal setting meeting. The kids in my group are really great kids and the meeting was a special experience. Many of the kids set their goal to improve their communication with and relation to our Heavenly Father. This is my goal too, but my main goal is to learn to base friendship on the inner, good qualities of people instead of outward appearances or other unimportant characteristics. I also want to learn to love others to the point that I care more about them than I do myself.

I spent the afternoon making char-cloth and taking care of last-minute preparations. I ate my dinner very slowly and took a long hot shower. We leave for the desert at 6:30 tomorrow morning, so I won’t be able to enjoy such luxuries again for a month.

Thursday, July 26

The bus finally let us out on the trail at a vast open expanse of desert (near Keg Knoll). We were told to tank up on water, so I drank 10 pop cans full. It hurt to walk, I felt so bloated, but that only lasted about 2 hours. Our last meal was lunch and we started hiking at 4 pm. After 3 hours we started descending into Horseshoe Canyon. We kept descending until we reached the bottom at about 11: 30pm, our goal being to find water. The river bottom was dry when we got there, so we bedded down while the leaders went in search of water.

By this time most of the canteens were dry and we were all hungry. This first three days is called “Impact” and, apparently, they don’t intend to feed us or allow us any time to search for food.

The leaders came back in half an hour and led us groping in the darkness to a little marshy place. We couldn’t see what we were drinking, but it was probably better that we couldn’t. The water tasted of swamp, but at least it was wet.

We finally started to bed down at 12:30. The girls got their fire going right away. The boys finally gave up and borrowed some fire from the girls. I suspect one of the leaders started their fire. By the light of the fire, I could see that the spot we had chosen to sleep in was covered with prickly pear cactus. I kicked away enough to make a bare spot and I thought it would be okay. However, by departure time I had succeeded in impregnating every article of clothing I had with little, tiny stickers. I’ll be picking those out for days.

We assembled to leave at about 4:30 a.m. They told us to tank up on swamp water because it would be our best water all day. Few people drank much of it and it later proved to be a major source of trouble.

We followed the canyon out till it joined the Green River. This river was so muddy that you couldn’t see the bottom of a teaspoon through it. It wouldn’t strain or settle, so the only way to drink it was to close your eyes and gulp. Sometimes you had to chew a little too.

It must have been at least 90 deg. by 10 am and some of the kids started getting sick. Our goal this day was to hike about 14 miles to some good water, but the sick ones made the going awfully slow. My attitude was one of impatience almost to the point of anger toward these people who slowed us down so badly. I just wanted to get to that water, rinse the grit out of my teeth, guzzle a couple gallons and plop down in a heap under some tree.

I should say something about the country we were moving through. Both the Horseshoe and the Green River Canyons were breathtaking to behold. People were exclaiming all the time when we first started out. By the start of our second day, the comments had dropped off a little and by noon nobody even cared anymore. While you were busy watching your step on the trail, it was easy to walk right beneath a huge monolith or balancing rock without even noticing it. I tried to keep looking around while we hiked, but truthfully, I didn’t care all that much anymore either.

Finally, they let about 10 of the healthier ones hike on ahead without stopping all the time for the lame and sick. The good water was supposed to be at the mouth of the Horsethief Canyon, and we set off at a fairly fast pace. I put everything I had into it and thought I was near exhaustion when we finally arrived at about 7pm. The little pond turned out to be back-up water from the Green River. It had settled a little, but you still couldn’t see through it and it tasted terrible. I began to wonder why I had been stupid enough to go on this survival thing.

When the others arrived and we had rested for an hour, the leaders informed us that we would be hiking on up the canyon till late in the night. We trudged on after a prayer for strength and watched the stars come out. I was carrying an extra bundle that belonged to one of the sick girls who was unable to carry it. When it got so dark that we could barely see, I traded shifts and helped the sick girl keep going.

I grabbed her belt from behind and pulled her along while she leaned on me for balance. Thus, we went tripping and stumbling on into the night. Melody was a rather stout girl. She out-weighed me by 20 pounds.

My previous attitude changed rather quickly when I saw how sick this girl was and how much courage she showed by still trying hard and giving her all. I realized how fortunate I was to not be so sick and how little effort I had to use compared to her. There were many similar situations in the rest of the group and our love for each other certainly grew that night.

We finally came to a little pool of water below an ancient falls where we decided to bed down. We offered a sincere prayer of thanks for the good water and guidance we had received. I had no trouble falling asleep on the rocks at about one in the morning.

At daylight, we tanked up and trudged on. We had to reach base camp about 8 miles away to set up for the weekend. This was at the end of Big Springs Canyon. No one had much strength left on this third day of Impact. It took the combined efforts of all to keep the group going at a very slow pace. Several times we had to pray to our source of strength to keep us going. We finally arrived at about 1:30 in the heat of the day.

The water there was good, and we offered many thanks for our arrival. We are now waiting for the supply truck to come with some food. I have been catching up my journal but, at least the ordeal of Impact is over. It certainly proved our motto, “If it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger” to be true. I have learned much about myself and my limitations.

Monday, July 30 - 6 pm

I’m sitting here at Mule seep wondering what’s going on. I hope this is Mule Seep. Anyway, I’d better take up where I left off.

Saturday, July 28

The supply truck finally came late in the afternoon. They had had car trouble, I guess. First, they gave us 10 gallons of tang and a carrot apiece to get our systems going again. Then, we organized into cook groups or family groups with a men and women’s leader. Connie, a very nice RN, and I were chosen as leaders of our group. We would fill the role of mother and father of the family group for the week. Then the weekend food was distributed to each family group. We were given hamburger, potatoes, carrots, oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, salt, and milk. We had a fairly decent stew for our dinner that night. That same evening, we organized our student branch. Jay Bossardt is our Branch President.