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.