Logan Zick
The Lost Glasses
Twelve miles to walk is hard enough but it’s even harder when a young adventurer doesn't have his glasses.
It’s the summer of 2013 and my first backpacking trip. I've never gone backpacking before. I was ready to go tackle these mountains and go hiking in the woods for a week with a bunch of people that were all my closest friends. We went with this group ministry Called True Elevation. They focus on taking a bunch of kids middle school through high school into the woods and talk about certain things like Christianity and faith. It's a really great time hanging out with your friends while connecting with nature and it's a really deep spiritual time too.
So on the second day of this trip we stopped for lunch in the most beautiful spot I had ever seen we were hiking around Engineer, so there was this hillside that we were sitting on and you could see Jura Knob to our right and then to our left was Engineer and down below there was this big valley with all these trees and rivers, you could see the mountains far off in the distance. It was the most beautiful spot we could have picked from lunch. As we're sitting there eating lunch talking and having some fun someone notices that there's a big field to our left and this field is filled with skunk cabbage.
Now skunk cabbage is a plant about three to four feet high and has these big leaves that are really soft and some really stocky stems about two or so inches thick, but not the hard. We found out that we could run through it and roll around in it. You could be at a dead sprinting, eat it, and just get up uninjured, laughing, only to do it all over again. So we're doing this for I don't know how long, but we finally had to leave to make our campsite check-in on time. We get to our second campsite and it's even more beautiful than the first place. There is a waterfall to our right and it's flowing into a stream that goes right by our campsite. Then there's another waterfall that goes down and you can see Engineer off in the distance to the left and when we look up there's Jora Knob above us. There are some really beautiful wildflowers but... we also notice on a hillside along the trail is more skunk cabbage so we are stoked because that stuff was fun to run through and this hill was even steeper than the last place.
We set up camp and we get all the nitty gritty done for dinner and the next day. Then we bolt for the steep hill of skunk cabbage. We were trying to run through it and instantly just ate it, but we got right up and did it again. We were able to roll for long distances because the hill was so steep, and the first thing that happens my friend Cliff decides to Superman off the edge and into it the skunk cabbage. He hits his collarbone on a rock and fractures it. At that moment he did know it was fractured. He thinks it’s just hurt so he keeps rolling. Then I get up from falling and tumbling and walk back up to do it again when my friends look at me and they notice, “Logan you don't have your glasses on.” I'm freaked out because I can’t see very far without them. If those things get lost in a bunch of grass and I’m never finding them. These things are invisible even in the carpet at my house. How in the world am I going to find them in this massive hill of waist high skunk weed. We get everyone together, fifteen of fourteen people, who are scouring this hill it's night time too as we are using flashlights up and down this hill for four hours. Nothing, nothing at all. The glasses are nowhere to be found, so I just stand there. I'm really bummed because we're only two days into this backpacking trip and I have to leave. Without my glasses my eyes try and strain so much to see the world around me that I start getting migraine headaches. The next day we wake up and search for my glass a little bit more. Then we decide that Cliff and I have to leave with our leader Jim because Cliff is seriously injured and I can’t see.
It was supposed to be a simple five mile hike back to the van, but we took the scenic route by mistake. It ended up being a twelve mile loop hugging the side of all the mountains. We went on the wrong trail and Cliff is in so much pain he is eating ibuprofen like skittles. I started getting one of my headaches and we still had six miles to go. Our Jim, our leader, is not tired at all and trying get us to look around at the beauty of the place. It was all a blurry outline for me. I was discouraged and disappointed and just wanted to go home at this point when our leader decides to take time to talk to someone else on the trail. Cliff and I remained silent not wanting to talk to a stranger. At first I was frustrated with Jim’s small talk, but later I realized Jim went out of his way to talk to this guy just so he can challenge himself to get out of his comfort zone and make friends with someone new. It impressed upon me that even though sometimes you don’t want to do something that makes you uncomfortable you may need to in order to be there for someone or even to help yourself. You may be the only one able to help others in a situation because of your skills.
A hike that was only supposed to take about an hour to get back ended up taking four hours. Cliff and I were collapsing by the time we arrived. Our legs felt like jello. At the time I was angry, disappointed, and confused, but looking back on it now I realize I accomplished my goal of a backpacking adventure. We laughed, hiked, played, got injured, and had to keep walking even when we wanted to give up and just sleep. I now have a story I’ll never forget and life lessons I can use about challenging myself to get out of my physically, mentally, and spiritually comfort zones.
So on the second day of this trip we stopped for lunch in the most beautiful spot I had ever seen we were hiking around Engineer, so there was this hillside that we were sitting on and you could see Jura Knob to our right and then to our left was Engineer and down below there was this big valley with all these trees and rivers, you could see the mountains far off in the distance. It was the most beautiful spot we could have picked from lunch. As we're sitting there eating lunch talking and having some fun someone notices that there's a big field to our left and this field is filled with skunk cabbage.
Now skunk cabbage is a plant about three to four feet high and has these big leaves that are really soft and some really stocky stems about two or so inches thick, but not the hard. We found out that we could run through it and roll around in it. You could be at a dead sprinting, eat it, and just get up uninjured, laughing, only to do it all over again. So we're doing this for I don't know how long, but we finally had to leave to make our campsite check-in on time. We get to our second campsite and it's even more beautiful than the first place. There is a waterfall to our right and it's flowing into a stream that goes right by our campsite. Then there's another waterfall that goes down and you can see Engineer off in the distance to the left and when we look up there's Jora Knob above us. There are some really beautiful wildflowers but... we also notice on a hillside along the trail is more skunk cabbage so we are stoked because that stuff was fun to run through and this hill was even steeper than the last place.
We set up camp and we get all the nitty gritty done for dinner and the next day. Then we bolt for the steep hill of skunk cabbage. We were trying to run through it and instantly just ate it, but we got right up and did it again. We were able to roll for long distances because the hill was so steep, and the first thing that happens my friend Cliff decides to Superman off the edge and into it the skunk cabbage. He hits his collarbone on a rock and fractures it. At that moment he did know it was fractured. He thinks it’s just hurt so he keeps rolling. Then I get up from falling and tumbling and walk back up to do it again when my friends look at me and they notice, “Logan you don't have your glasses on.” I'm freaked out because I can’t see very far without them. If those things get lost in a bunch of grass and I’m never finding them. These things are invisible even in the carpet at my house. How in the world am I going to find them in this massive hill of waist high skunk weed. We get everyone together, fifteen of fourteen people, who are scouring this hill it's night time too as we are using flashlights up and down this hill for four hours. Nothing, nothing at all. The glasses are nowhere to be found, so I just stand there. I'm really bummed because we're only two days into this backpacking trip and I have to leave. Without my glasses my eyes try and strain so much to see the world around me that I start getting migraine headaches. The next day we wake up and search for my glass a little bit more. Then we decide that Cliff and I have to leave with our leader Jim because Cliff is seriously injured and I can’t see.
It was supposed to be a simple five mile hike back to the van, but we took the scenic route by mistake. It ended up being a twelve mile loop hugging the side of all the mountains. We went on the wrong trail and Cliff is in so much pain he is eating ibuprofen like skittles. I started getting one of my headaches and we still had six miles to go. Our Jim, our leader, is not tired at all and trying get us to look around at the beauty of the place. It was all a blurry outline for me. I was discouraged and disappointed and just wanted to go home at this point when our leader decides to take time to talk to someone else on the trail. Cliff and I remained silent not wanting to talk to a stranger. At first I was frustrated with Jim’s small talk, but later I realized Jim went out of his way to talk to this guy just so he can challenge himself to get out of his comfort zone and make friends with someone new. It impressed upon me that even though sometimes you don’t want to do something that makes you uncomfortable you may need to in order to be there for someone or even to help yourself. You may be the only one able to help others in a situation because of your skills.
A hike that was only supposed to take about an hour to get back ended up taking four hours. Cliff and I were collapsing by the time we arrived. Our legs felt like jello. At the time I was angry, disappointed, and confused, but looking back on it now I realize I accomplished my goal of a backpacking adventure. We laughed, hiked, played, got injured, and had to keep walking even when we wanted to give up and just sleep. I now have a story I’ll never forget and life lessons I can use about challenging myself to get out of my physically, mentally, and spiritually comfort zones.