(Written by Chris)
Most of you know I went on a trip the first weekend in May. I wanted to tell y’all a bit about it.
Who went?
There was a total of 6 of us. The trip was lead by Jay Bennet who does this type of thing as a ministry. The other 4 were Lane Harlan, James Phipps, Steve Myers, and Kevin Busza.
Why subject yourself to this torture?
Why did we go? Several reasons - First, it was a retreat with the focus to get away from everyday life and allow God the room to speak to us, to focus on the spiritual aspects of our lives and challenge ourselves. Second, we went to build our relationships with the other men that went. A little “weiny-welding” as my dad would say. Third, we knew it would rock, litterally.
Where did you go?
We ended up, pretty much in and around Seneca Rocks, West Virginia. I am not 100% sure of the National Park we camped in, but i know that the area was called “Dolly Sods”. I tried to find a google map of it, but this is as close as i could figure, maybe one of the other guys on the trip could help me out.
What did we do?
Thursday
I got up at about 3:30, went over to Lane’s place to pick him up, and then met the other guys at our Church by 5 am. We were on the road by 5:45.
The car ride down was filled with great coversations, ranging from financial investing to theology. We had a great time talking and discussing various topics.
We arrived in Seneca Rocks around 11:30, which was earlier than we expected. We met up with jay, and after a brief intro, we headed over to our afternoon activity, which was climbing a “Via Feratta” at the Nelson Rocks Preserve. That was an incredible experience. Visit the website for NRP for more info, but I think the pictures will give you some idea of what it was like.
After that, we headed over to the park where we would be backpacking and camping. We packed all of our stuff up, including our clothes, food and cooking supplies, tarps and sleeping bags. Our packs weighed about 50lbs each. We then hiked about a mile in and set up camp. As we were setting up camp, it was getting dark, so it was probably around 8pm or so. We then ate dinner, while it drizzled a bit, and then hit the sacks.
Friday
Friday was a bit of a long day. We got up around 7:30/8am. We made breakfast, and jay gave us a quick bible study lesson from Deuteronomy about burying our, . . . well, poop. It was very interesting. We learned that God does care how we go to the bathroom, and how we deal with the “crap” in our lives.
We then packed up camp, and headed out. We hiked for a better part of a mile or more, and then crossed over this small river/creek that ran through this park. At that point, things got harder. We hiked up some fairly consistent and at times steep inclines, for probably about 3 hours or so. Shortly after we crossed the river/creek, we stopped shortly for lunch which consisted of mostly tortillas with peanut butter and jelly, and then cheese, crackers and pepperoni.
Once we reached the top of this ridge, we hiked about a half a mile and came across this beautiful water fall. Some of the guys stopped and took some pictures. It wasn’t far after this that we found a place to set up camp, where we would stay that night, through Saturday night.
Once camp was set up, we took a short hike and found, what I have since come to know is the High Plains of Dolly Sods. It was absolutely beautiful. A pretty meadow with a tree right in the middle. We hung out there in the grass for at least an hour. Around 5:30-ish, we headed back to camp and cooked dinner. Dinner was Fetticini Alfredo pasta, and some chili from the night before (still in an unopened can). We did another bible study time, where jay posed the quesiton of “who are we, where have we been and where are we going?” After mulling that over as a group for a while, we then went to sleep. The temperature that night was probably in the low 40’s to high 30’s.
Saturday
Saturday had a surprise in store for us. We got up around 8:30 and before we could really get any breakfast, Jay called us together. He informed us that we would be doing a “solo”, or sabbath time that day. He would take us out to specific spots in the woods, and drop each one of us off by ourselves. We wouldn’t be far from eachother, but the goal in mind was to be by ourselves, not speak, and fast and prayer, so as to allow the Lord to speak to us in anyway he wished. We were allowed to bring our Bibles, notebooks, and sleeping bags (it was a bit cold that day).
It was quite an intense experience. One had to be of a certain maturity to handle something like this. Each one of us was challenged by the time spent alone. None of us had any audible voices speaking to us, nor any earth shattering revelations. But i know each one of us had a deeper awareness of God and ourselves. It was as if the calousses that society and culture puts on our souls through a constant barrage of stimulation had been weakened. It was refreshing.
After 8 hours alone, Jay finally came and got us. Some of us, who shall remain nameless, thought that they would be stuck there all night. Once back at camp, we had a “feast”. Jay had already prepared chicken fajitas, baked beans and a no bake cheese cake, complete with cherry topping for us (we were roughing it huh?). We had a great time of fellowship over our meal, talking about the day.
After the meal, we had a church service, complete with a call to worship(done by james), worship time(chris and steve), teaching (kevin), offering (everyone) and benediction/closing (Lane). The offering time was the best part of the whole trip. We each took turns saying words of encouragment to each other. It was such a great time. Once that was done, we sat around a fire for a bit longer, and then turned it. It was quite cold that night, cold enough to freeze some water. I know I was completely in my sleeping back, with no part of my body out, with two layers on, but i still slept pretty comfortablly.
Sunday
We got up around 7, ate breakfast and then packed up camp. Around 8:30 ish, we started on our way back. The hike back was filled with more great fellowship time, talking to each other and just enjoying Creation. By 1pm we were back at the cars and by 2 we were on the road headed back home.
Everyone loved the trip. We all pretty much agree that we will do this at least once a year. It was a great trip and I greatly look forward to next years trip.
We have plenty of pictures and some video from our trip. Feel free to check them out.
Oh, and lastly, anyone know what the “kc” in the title of this entry refers to?
VIDEOS:
Arrived
Starting uP
Hanging Out 1
Hanging Out 2
Shaky Bridge
Summit
Lunch On Friday
The Waterfall
Highlands
All Done
