An Avalanche Narrative

Sixty days of carrying 80-pound backpacks, sleeping under a tarp for shelter in the Utah winter – welcome to “wilderness therapy.”

POW! At what seems like 100 miles per hour it hits you! The cold snow running down your back, chills form on your arm. Then, another one! Quickly you dodge it, then grab your own and send it flying back. Wow, you think, snowball fights are extreme. This snowball fight was the best I ever had. We were throwing snowballs across the street, hitting houses and laughing as we do so.

Beep! Beep! Beep! I wake up to an alarm screaming in my ear. I smack the alarm to shut the yelling off. It was a January day, in the middle of the cold, brutal winter. I finally got up after sitting in bed for what felt like hours, and looked outside like I do every morning. I noticed that there was no sign of grass to be seen. All that could be seen was white, frozen blanket of thick snow. I started to get ready for the school day and I just prayed that school was going to be canceled. As soon as I was fully ready I stepped outside and my food sunk down a foot and a half below the snow! I could not believe it that school was still open. As soon as I got to my car that was completely covered in snow, my mother comes out and yells that school was closed. I felt a huge wave as release and I ran back inside and went right back to sleep.

We were all encouraged to choke down as much food as possible. Any kind of energy was essential. A melancholy atmosphere hung heavy as the journey progressed. Minutes walking slowly progressed into hours, the sky seemed to darken steadily. All of us were oblivious to the danger shrouded by the dim evening. Only moments after scaling a rather steep ledge did nature dice to turn sour. A deafening rumble made each climber perk up. Snow began to descend at an alarming rate. Thunder began to mic the steady beating of a drum, causing more concern among the ranks of climbers. The powdery snow became more of a risk than ever, climbing under pressure and leaving nothing to stand on. Third base was more than three hours away. Three hours wasn't possible at the rate. Snowfall this bad could be detrimental to the climb’s success. Snow obscured vision and numbed faces. Shouts and orders deemed lost in the screaming wind; people’s figure became shapeless blurs frantically shifting, hoping if they struggled against the wind hard enough, they might find someone. Of course, this was to no avail. Not a single person doubted their demise would come at this point: the stakes were high and no-one could play too well against Mother Nature. The snow crept up to knee-level, making it harder and harder to travel. Death and I were face-to-face. To some, they couldn't bare the idea of dying up here; they had families and friends, children who need parents and

As I heard my alarm clock go off at two in the morning, feeling prepared mentally but not physically. My mind,at that point in time raced with thoughts and expectations, although my body felt like it wanted to die. Finally dragging myself out from under the soft covers, I pulled my gear to the bed of the truck and threw my bag up over the side of the truck's bed,-- hearing a giant thud from the heftiness of my pack. I felt mixed emotions coming from my body, my mind ready and my body said: “go back to bed hate you, I hate you, I hate you”. As soon as I plopped myself into the truck squished with three people in the back seat, after about five minutes of driving all three of us passed out fast asleep. The moment I woke, pulling into the parking lot of Mount Washington, New Hampshire I felt ready. When I stepped out of the car, I threw my hands in the air, the best feeling of stretching after a car ride. I look up to see this mountain completely covered with snow and only one round part completely treeless; that's where we hiked too. Strapping my fifty-pound pack on my back containing ski boots, skis, poles, winter gear, and food felt more tiring than it should have.

Colorado, known for the Rocky Mountains, is a gorgeous place to be. The rectangular state rich with wildlife, covers 104,185 square miles. In the black timber, it is dark and silent, not a sound to be heard. The thick pine trees block out most of the sunlight, only to see about seventy-five yards. The terrain is brutal, almost straight up and down, but the elk love it because it is a challenge for hunters to see them. As I walk my favorite ridgeline in the black timber, I watch for the slightest movement and listen for the smallest crack. Watching thirteen-lined ground squirrels run around and chase each other can be humorous when they fall down from trees. My adrenaline pumps and heart races at a million miles per hour as I wait patiently

Staring up at the towering, glacier-covered mountain range, I felt impossibly small. My overflowing backpack dug into my shoulders and I bounced on my toes, eager to start hiking before the sun rose too far in the summer sky. Supplied with nothing but what we carried on our backs and in our minds, my family and I were about to backpack into the Alaskan wilderness for a week.

You Should Read This Book! Making a decision that will either better yourself or a loved one of the most unfathomable choices one may have to face. It is near inconceivable to choose between your own well being or the prosperity of one so near and dear to your heart. I myself have had to make this extremely difficult decision when I was forced to make the choice of staying with a sport where the coach constantly mistreated myself and team which caused many of my closest friends to quit and leave the harmful environment. It would have been easy for me to follow the path of my peers and save myself the daily pain and torture of attending practice, but there was one thing holding me back from cutting the final strand.

On June 15, 2013, six weeks prior to climbing Mount Rainier’s Inter Glacier and Emmons Glacier to Camp Schurman (9,450’) on the east side, Tim and I hiked from Paradise (5,400’) via the Muir snowfield to Camp Muir (10,188’) located on the south side. The idea was to replicate similar hiking conditions with a full weighted camp pack, ascend 4,800’ and camp overnight to acclimate to the high altitude. We bunkered down early inside our tent around 7:35 P.M. only to be awakened at midnight by the soft chatter of enthusiastic voices as several climbing parties prepared for their departure for Washington’s grandest summit. Approximately one hour later, the unmistaken crunching sound of crampons meeting the mountain’s cold icy surface would drown

The smell of popcorn filled the spring air. I was running as fast as I could, there was no stopping me. The pitcher threw the baseball to second base as I started to race to home base. Voices of cheering and screaming of excitement filled my ears, motivating me to run faster. I stared at the catcher with confidence in my eyes, seeing his glove in the air, ready to catch the ball. He was too late, my foot touched the bag before it reached his glove. My best friend Olivia on the team ran over to me and gave me a hard high five. The rest of my team tackled me with joy. Olivia and I are the only girls on the team yet we are some of the best players they have. As we said good game to the other team, a feeling of being watched struck me. I turned my head to see a

We ran drunkenly with the litter over the uneven ground trying to outrun the bloodsucking horde; pushing, shoving and cursing it over the tree trunks and rocks that blocked our way, we arrived at the upper trailhead, spent. We set the hated thing down and fell on the ground to catch our breath before tackling the last mile down and around the ski slopes on the rough service road we hadn't used coming up. Once again, there we were, about to tackle the longest part of the carry (we quit calling it a hike a half hour before) in the heat of the day. Gaaaaak!

Two days of staying at Alcove Springs and now we get to leave to get back on the trip. We are just arriving at Fort Kearny, after taking us twelve days to get here. On our way we had a problem,the wheel that we didn't replace split right in the center. It was unfixable and we didn't have a spare, luckily the Colloni’s had an extra wheel that they let us have. I felt bad for just taking it, so I payed him five dollars for it. We are so lucky to have good people traveling with. Later on we were in the open parries when a nasty storm came to us, it was hailing, raining and very strong winds. To have any chance at surviving, we made a circle with our wagons, and put the animals under them. We grabbed blankets or anything we had to wrap ourselves

I realized then how this is a true adventure for me. For this moment, I have no idea how I will conquer this challenge. I know for sure that I will not end up dead or hurt, but I just don’t know what the solution is. For this moment, I am stranded. However, in the next moment, I must go on. I pull myself up, tighten my backpack, and fix my helmet. I make my way down one trail, but decide it will be too treacherous. I pull my folded map out of my pocket. It says that there is only one way down, and it’s the way that I have just checked out.

It is hard to walk down the side of a street without either seeing a newspaper hearing a radio commentator talking about the most recent national disaster or the newest countries now at war or assisting the war efforts of others. Governments around the world are working 24/7 to protect their ideals at any expense. If foreign governments threaten each other, they go to war. If any aspect of society threatens a government, a regulation or law is soon passed to correct the problem. As communication all over the world increases, and more important choices are made per day than any other time in history, governments all over the world have grown in power in an attempt to monitor these interactions and keep their ideals and power intact. This

I took the climbing pack and placed my fleece blanket and windbreaker inside. My pack was already filled with the necessary mountain-climbing gear, granola bars, thermos, and a first aid kit. I grabbed my pocket-sized Bible from the passenger seat of the truck and tucked it into the side pouch of my pack. Jacob pulled the last of the mountain-climbing equipment from the bed of the truck and shut the tailgate. He looked up at me and smiled.