Monday, September 17

My first bonding group: Linda in front, left to right in back--Liz, Bethany, Julee
(note to reader: If you find a lack of description of food in this narrative, it's because there just wasn't much. For instance, today's entry is Monday. Sunday apparently passed. We must have eaten. I have no record of it. I probably ought to also note that a large portion of my journal records my musings on the spiritual side of this experience. Please forgive me for omitting most of that. It's quite personal and is a story for another setting. I'm also choosing to not include some 20 year old boy/girl stuff that was happening between one of my "brothers" and me.)

(The girl in the striped pants with the safari helmet left the group along with a male friend of hers about 3 days later. I think one of them had come on the trip with some drug problems, as I recall. According to the contracts we signed, once we chose to leave the leaders would help us get to the nearest road and then we were on our own. BYU was then no longer responsible. I remember it was a downer for the group to have someone leave. Three left our group.)
"We left camp today at high noon. This morning we made an assembly line and fixed 38 portions of food for the week which we will carry wrapped up in Saran wrap in our army blankets on our backs. Brown sugar, oatmeal, raisins, cinnamon, flour, salt, rice(? It's written in my journal, but I have no recollection of ever eating it. How would we have cooked it? Rice steamer plugged into a current bush??), wheat and boullion. Ought to suffice! Girls hiked without the boys today. We chose a leader and took off over a mountain with a map and no water. Tonight was very very hard. We hiked 16 miles. We got into camp at 3 A.M. Everyone was very thirsty to the point of swollen mouths and aching bodies. So far, fortunately, I'm holding up well. I was needed today by Liz. She was having a difficult time to keep going. I looked into the sky and gained my strength by praying. We have a beautiful beautiful group of four to cook in. We seem to have a bond.
We missed the men today! When we joined them at 3 A.M. they were waiting with canteens for us and we kissed and kissed them. Spirits are better. I am at peace.

Tuesday, Sept. 18--I feel like Abe Lincoln tonight! We stopped early tonight, so we're lying on our blankets by a huge blazing fire eating our ration of raisins and brown sugar and writing bits and pieces for posterity in our journals. Very cozy. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else doing anything else. I have never experienced such love so quickly with complete strangers. This is priceless.


(Paco tried to revive this photo. This was taken in front of the Cookie Jar the morning I boarded the bus out of Provo. I'm obviously trying to "show a little leg" to reaffirm my femininity! It bears the scars of baking in countless sweltering garages over the decades but does capture a few things i.e. my red union suit legs, my possible bag hanging at my waist, my life-saving bandana, my insulated underwear shirt, and my indomitable hat--oh, that hat. Unfortunately on the LAST night of the trip, I was sleeping with my head too close to the fire and ignited myself. I remember being screamed out of a sound sleep by someone throwing dirt to put out the fire!! I kept that hat on my dresser for longer than I should have, but now it has gone the way...alas)