Up, Down, All Around Last time I wrote I was lounging on my couch in Calgary, being fed chocolate from all sides and loving being served. This time, I am attempting to fit an email in during our 'dry out days', while running back and forth between tasks, re-hydrating, answering questions, cleaning my awful smelling clothing and repacking my backpack. Since returning back to Camp Bighorn we (Explore) has been incredibly busy. A couple days after returning most of the Interns headed up a mountain to a ghost town for a retreat. Warm cabins, streak on wood stoves and many games of cribbage ensued, giving the Explore staff a much needed break. After returning we headed back up another mountain for our Winter Intro trip with the first years, back for a day, back up for our first winter skills rotation (which was skiing for my team) and now back down for one more day. These dry out days (named because most of our gear is soaked and needs a day to dry out) consist of planning for the next rotation, feedback sessions from the last rotation, cleaning and repacking, showering (Hallelujah!), and sometimes writing emails. Although time up on the mountain is wonderful, it is tiring and the warmth back at camp is more than appreciated.
Coming up Next... The next rotation for us is Winter Survival- unlike this last rotation we will be sleeping out in temperatures above zero (both F and C, the last rotation had to do their survival overnight in -25 C). The students will be learning how to survive in harsh conditions, what to look for, how to start fires and call for help. It is a fascinating course that I was able to do several years ago, and will be tagging along as a help this time. After the skill rotations we will move into specialization (each student chooses which skill they would like to specialize in), I will be helping with skiing. Five days out on the mountains, woohoo! Pray that the teams will grow closer, be challenged and seek Christ above all else.
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