Every great adventure starts with the famous words, "How bad could it be?"
It was just before 6 o'clock when we pulled up to the trailhead in the Great Smoky Mountains (NC). We readied our packs and sent a scout to check out our potential trail. He came back and said, "I don't see a trailhead sign with our trail name on it." I replied, "Y'all want me to go check at the next stop to see if that's it?"
"Naa… let's take this trail. How bad could it be?" We agreed and eagerly attacked in ignorance of what was about to befall us.
Soon enough, we began to lose the trail. "Is this still the trail?" "I don't know, let's just keep going." A few minutes later, we decided, "There's water over there" pointing down the ridge to the right, "Let's go down and find the trail."
"Ahhhhh! Get them off! It hurts, it hurts! Bees man, bees!" Ten minutes into our journey down the ridge, our quiet hike turned into a frantic run for our lives as Philip Cron stepped on a hornet's nest. In attempt to calm him down and keep him from falling down the mountain, I too got hit like the USS Arizona by non-relenting Japanese Zeros. Between the two of us, we took about 50 stings but nonetheless, the adventure continued…
We quickly returned to the ridge and after about 2 hours of hiking, we heard water and decided to take the left ridge down. Once we reached water, it was dark. We hiked the heavily vegetated and overgrown river under trees, over trees and through the thicket in the dark until 12:25am (4 1/2 more hours) until a few of the men could go on no longer. We scrounged up a place to sleep on the steep slope of the ridge and slept, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Smoky the Bear. Early the next morning, we rose and hit the river once again.
Two hours later, we reached the trail. It was then, that after looking at the map, we realized that we had traveled 6 1/2 hours down 1 mile of overgrown river. That was enough to call it an adventure right there, however the journey wasn't over yet.
We walked the trail for another hour or so, back and forth and the backcountry camp site was nowhere to be found. At this time, we decided to suck it up and hike the 4+ miles back to the truck. We were slowing down in frustration when I muttered, "God, we could really use a campsite right about now." Thirty seconds later, on the left, we found our rescue!
It was a perfectly nestled site near the serene river, a spot perfect for a well deserved evening of relaxation and brotherhood. That night, we got stormed in from our hammocks and found ourselves, large, stinky, dirty men in tents together. There's something about sharing in the storm of life that creates a fire for your brother within, a passion to initiate and build leadership and live as men were created to be; rough, tough, adventurous men after the heart of God. He is an adventurous God and desires an adventure for us as we chase His vision for our lives.
You see, true brotherhood is a dream of mine; to cultivate it, to dive into it and see the furious heart of God surface in men, young and old. The dynamic combo was three World Race Alumni (Philip Cron, Ryan Stewart, and myself) and a future World Racer (Steven Buffington). This is the perfect atmosphere to exercise team-work, camaraderie, and the activation of men living Kingdom purposed lives! That is exactly what happened and this is exactly what we will continue to do…
Get out of the house. Get dirty. Take a journey into the unknown. Take a hungry man out. Pour into him. Though they many not know it yet, men and boys alike are hungry for adventure and the heart of God, to be just like Him. Get out into the wilderness to experience the Father like He desires men to experience Him – raw, adventurous and real. Go ahead, discover on…
I am inviting you, future World Racers, to go on a campout and seek adventure as we journey into the deep of God's deep – together. If you are interested in this pre-race experience of a lifetime, e-mail me at [email protected] and we'll get after it! I challenge you… strap on your boots and BRING IT ON!
