The Priests in our ward went on their high adventure activity the first week of August. I took a lot of preparation and was not for the faint of heart. I asked Tanner to share his experience:
My High Adventure started several months before school got out. Although we didn’t actually camp, or go someplace outside of our ward, we were preparing for the activity we were going to accomplish that summer. The activity? We were going to climb Mount Adams.
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| Tanner with his Priest Quorum and Bishop Davis (Priest Advisor) |
I don’t know whose crazy idea it was, but the event was set in stone and that was what we were going to do. For the mutual’s leading up to the activity we decided as a quorum it would be cool if we made some homemade equipment. Luckily one of our leaders has a forge, which lead to a few months of awesomeness. In the end, we all made ice axes. The process required heating the metal, pounding the metal, and once finished, quenching the metal. We followed the exact same process they used to make ice axes in the late 1800’s.
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| Tanner and Sam McKague hammering their metal. |
With the completion of the ice axes a few weeks before summer, we were ready for our high adventure. To start off our week of fun, we drove to Eastern Washington for a day of Rock Climbing. It was both exciting and scary. Most of the time we spent included getting the gear set up. Then, we spent four hours climbing. I had never climbed outside of a gym before, and this was a completely new experience. One of the techniques we had to use was sticking our hand into cracks then clenching our fists. This then acts as an anchor until we get another hand hold. Let me tell you, in was quite the adrenaline rush!
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| Tanner is on the left working his way to the top. |
After conquering the cliffs, we headed off to do the same on the mountain. After creating a “Base Camp” at the foot of the mountain we rested for an entire day. Then at 11 P.M we set off on our ascent. The trek was hard, but we…. Well actually I enjoyed it.
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| At the beginning of the climb... |
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| Watching the sun rise on our ascent |
The snow was ice at this time, so we wore crampons to dig into it. Our ice axes also came in handy and we used them like canes on the more slippery slopes.
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| Cresting the false summit was hard, then to look and see the work we still had ahead of us was a little disheartening. |
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| Stopping to assess the situation, rest and enjoy the view from the top of the world |
We hiked for 15 hours to reach the top, and in the end only 1/3 of the group made it, I was one of them. We would have reached the top sooner, but our leader thinking he knew the way, took the more treacherous route. At one point there were 50 feet drop offs on both sides of us. At that point we knew we had gone the wrong way, but the only way to go was up so on we went.
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| Tanner on the summit. He said this was probably the hardest thing he has ever done. |
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The rest of the summiteers
L to R: Brother Dustin, Bishop Davis, Jimmy Scott, Sam McKague
Those who also made it to the top were: Tanner Nelson, Brother Young, Brother Zundel, and Cameron Davis |
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| Sam McKague, Tanner and Jimmy Scott on top of the world |
Coming down was a breeze. We used a technique called glissading, which is where you sled on your rear end down the mountain. In preparation, we bought some cheap swim trunks at good will and painted them with a rubber coating you find on plier handles and packed them in our pack. When we were ready to descend, we slipped those on over our clothes and started sliding. Our pick axes became our breaks and rudders. It kind of felt like cheating since we got down in no time, and which such little effort!
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| Glissading at top speeds - a little scary! |
After the climb we returned to camp and were excited for our next activity. Due to our efforts we were going to go to Brother Dustin’s cabin to relax for the last two days, ski and swim on the lake and eat some good food. On our drive there Bro. D got a call from his contractor saying that while working at the cabin he had broken the generator. Needless to say we didn’t go to his cabin. We were all so tired we decided to just come home.
Looking back I am both sad that the trip was over. Potentially it was my last high adventure I may get to go on, but I was glad it was such a great one. Needless to say I felt accomplished, as well as found an admiration of rock climbing, and hope to go with my quorum again before I head off to college!
