This past week, I spent 5 days in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with the Young Men.  There were 11 boys and 4 adults.  I spent months planning this trip--finding the right routes, figuring out the necessary caloric requirements for meals, logistics, and so much more.  At the end of the trip, it was everything I had hoped for.

On Saturday, we left the church at 0700 and started the 8 hour drive to Vonore, Tennessee. I have a friend from my military days who was letting us stay at his campsite on Lake Tellico.  The drive was uneventful and we arrived around 1630 hrs.  Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain.  Absolutely pouring rain.  We set up camp in the driveway of his campsite during a lull.  Even at that, it rained most of the afternoon and night.  All of the boys got wet and no one slept very well. It was very nice to see my friend Kenny Ballew again.

Sunday morning, we got up to a dry sky and got ready for church.  All of the boys were ready 3o minutes early, so we went ahead and left for church.  It was very nice to meet with the Louden Branch--they welcomed us with open arms.  After church, we went back to the campground, had lunch, and relaxed.  I had plans to hold some Duty to God workshops, but everyone was so tired from the lack of sleep last night that we simply sat around and talked. Kenny came by for a bit as well.  We turned in relatively early in anticipation of the big trip.

On Monday, we started at Elkmont Campground and walked upstream on the Little River Trail for about 4 miles.  It was a wide, gentle trail and we saw many people on day hikes.  At the Goshen Prong Trail, we took a break and had a quick snack, then started up Goshen Prong Trail.  It was more narrow and steeper, but still wasn't a bad trail.  I continually had to encourage the boys and  Br Keith to slow down--they wanted to hike too fast.

Along the Goshen Prong Trail, we crossed two streams that required us to remove our boots.  It had rained 3.6 inches the previous weekend and all the streams were quite swollen.  Just after the second stream crossing, we saw Camp 23 and began to settle down for the night.  After getting our tents/tarps set up, we ate dinner, then sat around the fire pit talking while the boys tried to start a fire (without success).  Once it got dark, we hit the sack.  I had hoped we would see the synchronous fireflies, but for some reason, there were no fireflies at all.

We got up at a respectable hour on Tuesday, broke camp, and continued the hike up Goshen Prong Trail.  After Camp 23, this trail became quite steep, quite rocky, and rather challenging.  I was able to set a good pace (about 1 MPH), but as the hours wore on, Keith began to hurt.  Eventually, he found it difficult to hike up the trail.  One of the boys asked if we should distribute some of the weight of his pack.  I told him we might, but that we hadn't hit that point yet.

We eventually arrived on the Appalachian Trail and took a long break while Keith tried to recover.  We joined a nice lady during our break.  She kept telling us that we needed to get Keith off the trail.  At this point, I wasn't sure if she was right or not. I thought she might be, but it was really early in the trip to be leaving someone behind.  In hindsight, this lady was far more insightful than I wished she had been.

Our next stop was Clingman's Dome--I had a plan that we could leave Keith there and have him meet us on Friday at Smokemont.  After  a good long break, we started up the Appalachian Trail with Keith bringing up the rear.  He needed to stop frequently and we were getting farther and farther behind schedule.  Tuesday was a 14.5 mile day.  After several hours, we hit the Clingman Dome cutoff trail.  As we waited for Keith to catch up, we had a mini council and decided that Keith should take the cutoff and meet us at the parking lot.  

During lunch, we prayed that Keith would somehow make it or receive help.  It wasn't very long before Keith walked up without his pack followed by 4 Britons.  One of them was carrying Keith's pack for him.  We talked briefly and they agreed to carry to his pack to the Clingman's Dome parking lot (or "car park" as they called it).  I took the 6 boys and headed up to the top, the Briton's started down the trail, and Keith followed them slowly. These 4 Brit's were the first set of guardian angels we would meet on this trip.

The boys and I soon reached the top, dropped our packs at the base of the Tower and climbed to the top of the Smoky  Mountains.  It was a great view--the highlight of the trip for several of the boys.  When we were finished soaking in the view of the mountains, we headed down the asphalt road to the car park to meet up with Keith.  A quick stop at the gift store (didn't buy anything though because I didn't want the extra weight) and then we set off to find Keith.

Unfortunately, he wasn't at the bathroom, gift store, or on the benches.  His pack wasn't around either.  I was starting to get a bit worried and decided to head down the trail to see where he was.  About 100 feet down the trail, I met him heading up--he had stopped at an intersection just short of the car park so he wouldn't have to hike uphill just to head back downhill. 

I thought briefly about having Keith stay at Clingman's Dome, but he looked good, was motivated to continue, and somehow managed to move past that decision without us actually talking about it. He knew I was thinking of it (we talked as a group at the Appalachian Trail intersection).

Once we regrouped, I got the group headed down toward Fourney Creek Trail.  It was all downhill, so everyone was able to move at a pretty good pace.  However, it was already nearly 1700 hrs, so we were far, far behind schedule.  We started hitting major stream crossings.  Some of them were high enough we had to remove our boots, others were still sufficiently low that we could use the rocks to cross. As the day progressed, it became increasingly apparent to me that we weren't going to make Camp 70 before the sun set.  I prayed that we would be able to make camp before it got dark. I didn't want to make the boys hike through the woods in the dark. We crossed one last stream in the waning sunlight.  It was difficult to see the bottom because of the reflection.  It was also deep enough that we had to remove our boots.  I went on ahead wondering what we were going to do.  

I was thinking very hard that we needed to stop at Camp 69 instead of 70.  Then the doubts crept in my mind.  The Park Service closes camps based on bear activity.  When they do this, everyone with a reservation at that site gets notification.  What if they closed Camp 69 because of bears?  While I was walking, essentially in the dark, I saw some lights in the distance. As I neared them, I saw the glow of a fire and the shadow of a tent.  I decided then that we would camp here (which I thought was Camp 69).  I walked into the camp behind the tent and realized I needed to announce myself so I wasn't mistaken for a bear.  Turned out to be a family camping at Camp 69.  Bill & Suzy Brower with their children Weston & Sidney.  They originally wanted to stay at Camp 70, but it was full (with my reservation) so they went to Camp 69 instead.  It was a good thing they were there because I couldn't see the camp sign in the dark.  Not to mention there were 3 more major stream crossings between Camp 69 and Camp 70.  There is no way we would have made it in the dark.  This was our second set of Guardian Angels.

Perhaps an even greater miracle was that through all of our creek crossings, no one fell in. Even when we crossed the last creek in the dark, we all stayed dry.  At this camp, we were able to see the synchronous fireflies.  They weren't quite as synchronous as I expected, but there were a lot of them.

Once we had camp set up, two of the boys made dinner, everyone else simply crashed.  Keith & I sat by the fire  a bit, then turned in.

On Wednesday morning, we got up, broke camp and started hiking again. We had 1.5 miles to Camp 70, then a few more until the junction of Spring Branch Trail.  We never did see Camp 70 (although we knew when we were at the right area).  Keith did very well this morning.

Once we started up Spring Branch Trail, Keith began to struggle.  We could go .1 miles before having to stop and take a break.  His breathing was very labored.  I knew shortly into this trail that he wasn't going to be able to complete the trip.  By this time, we had distributed all of his food and most of his gear.  He was essentially carrying just a few pounds in his pack.

About 1 mile east of Fourney Creek Trail, Keith finally collapsed on the ground.  I knew we were at the moment of decision.  I pulled Stephen Monson aside (having talked already with Aaron Fisher).  We talked about options.  I then went back to the group and we had a serious council on the trail.  I told the boys we were in trouble and had to get Keith off the trail.  I laid out for them where we were.  I then told them we had 3.2 miles to go until the next intersection.  From there, it was 4.8 miles back to Clingman's Dome.  I announced to them that I was going to take Aaron and Stephen and go for help.  Ethan Hacker would be in charge of the remaining group.  They were to move at best possible speed up Spring Branch Trail, then proceed up Fourney Ridge Trail.  It was going to take me at least 6 hours to get help and return to the group--they would be on their own until then.  I gave Ethan a map, the bear spray, and my water purifier.  I marked his location on my GPS (so I would know where I left my son), then we knelt to pray.  In that prayer, I laid out our dilemma as well as our proposed course of action.  I even asked Heavenly Father to let us run into a Ranger, a horseman, or a ranger on a horse.  Then we left.  

The three of us started up the trail about about 2 mph.  It was a very quick pace up hill with packs.  I turned on my music to make the hike easier.  I knew the two boys could have done faster without me, but it didn't make sense to send them alone.  About .5 miles away from the other group, I thought about trying the cell phone.  Aaron had Verizon and I was able to get a bar of extended service, so I called 911.  They had a very hard time hearing me and I wasn't really able to share our situation, so we continued to hike.  About another .5 miles brought us to the top of a ridge on a small saddle.  I tried 911 again and got through.  After they figured out we were in the Smoky Mountains, they got ahold of the rangers.  Eventually they told me the rangers were on their way and to return to my group.

When I told Aaron and Stephen what they said, we decided we wanted to stop and eat lunch before returning to the group.  After we ate, I called the backcountry office.  They patched me through to Ranger Dispatch.  As soon as I told them my name they said "are we glad you called!"  I told them where I was, where I left Keith, and all the other details. We went over medical history and the such.  They then patched me through to Ranger Ron Mahoney.  He again went over the same information and asked for coordinates for Keith.  He also asked where I was.  I was able to tell him and his information (from the cellular system) confirmed the information I gave him.  He told me to stay put until they had a plan in place.  So we waited.  About an hour later, I talked with the rangers again and they asked if I could get Keith to the place I was.  I told them I could.  They instructed me to set up camp right on the ridge.  The next day (Thursday) they asked me to get Keith to Camp 64 where they would pick him up.  

This was great, but I was now faced with an 18 mile day on Thursday with the boys.  We all decided that we couldn't do that, but we didn't know what other options we might have. We then set up our tents and had dinner.  After dinner, we used our paracord to string up our packs in the trees to protect against bears.  We gave it a real effort to be sure, but I know our packs weren't really high enough.  It was the best I could do though. I also called Bishop Pettit.  I explained the situation and he said he wanted to call a few people. I let him know that I had a BSA Tour Permit, a NPS Backcountry Permit, a medical physical for Keith, and a Church Activity Form from President Stroud.  In other words, I had legally fulfilled all of my requirements.  Turns out he called President Stroud and the parents of boys I had.  I get a text later “All parents have been contacted and are good with you going forward.  They all trust you and your hiking experience.”  That made me feel very good.  With that done, we had our evening meeting and went to bed.

Here's Ethan's perspective of this period of time:

With Dad, Aaron, and Stephen gone, I wondered what to do. Br. Keith was still laying on the ground, eyes closed but awake. The boys all looked at me and I looked at them. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, all had stony faces. Filling the silence, I asked Br. Chapman how he felt. He shook his head. After sitting there a few more minutes Br. Keith decided we needed to do something. He was stalwart in his mind that we needed to get to the next intersection. We started to hike while constant remembering that Br. Chapman needed to take it slow. After only hundred meters or so we stopped. After stopping and starting multiple times, Br. Keith proposed a plan. I would take his watch and keep time. For every minute he walked he would earn a minute of break. With something to keep his mind on we started up. We would walk 10 minutes then stop for 10 minutes. Intending to let Br. Chapman rest a bit more I often stretched the resting minutes further without telling Br. Keith. I knew he would surely oppose it. The other boys were pained to be going so slow. Every time we took a break you could see in their faces the anticipation to get going, however, everyone had a great attitude about it. After 4 long hours, we finally saw Dad, Stephen, and Aaron notifying us that the camp was only .15 miles up the trail. Br. Chapman got up and determinately hiked the last portion before stopping at camp.

In the end, we didn't run into a Ranger on the trail and I never saw the horseman I hoped for.  But the Lord did answer my prayer.  I did find a Ranger on the trail, via the cell phone. What a tender mercy that the Lord prompted me to try the cell phone when I did.  What a tender mercy that Aaron Fisher has Verizon. What a tender mercy that someone placed enough cell towers within view of that particular saddle I stood on so Ranger Dispatch could triangulate my position.

"No one gets cell service like you had on that ridge." But we prayed and we needed help, so the Lord provided a way.

The next morning, Thursday, we all got up, ate breakfast, then called Ranger Dispatch.  They told me there was a road leading from Lakeview Drive to 64.  They would pick up Keith at Camp 64. I saw that Camp 64 was only 4 miles from Lakeview Drive, so we decided that I would hike with the boys to Lakeview Drive while Keith went to pick up the mini van.  Once he had the van and secured us accommodations for Thursday night, he would return to pick us up.  The Rangers asked me what time I would arrive at Camp 64.  I told them it would be 1330 hrs (which was 4 hours).  This gave us time go 1 mph uphill for 2 miles, then downhill for 2.8 miles.  

Keith did very well on this portion of the trail...it really eased up on the inclination.  We got to Camp 64 at 1315 hrs, then waited until 1500 hours for the rangers.  We had no cell service, so it really was just a wait. I taught the boys Eucher to pass the time.  At 1500 hrs, Ranger Mahoney showed up and took Keith to Smokemont.  On the way, he called the campground and secured the last group site for us. Ranger Mahoney even went into the registration office with Keith to make sure we got the site.  I took the boys down the road to Lakeview Drive and then let the boys hike another 2 miles round trip to the lake (they really wanted to get 50 miles it). 

Once Keith got back, he brought us all sodas and we drove to the end of the road and walked through the tunnel on Lakeview Drive. A nice lunch at a shady McDonald's in the Cherokee Reservation, then we were at Smokemont and setting up camp for the last night. 

Just after we set up camp, Ranger Mahoney stopped by one last time and chatted about 20 minutes. He was genuinely concerned and interested to know that we were safe.  He was the third guardian angel we met on this trip.

Friday morning, we broke camp early and had Keith drop us off at Newfound Gap.  From there I hiked with the boys down the Appalachian Trail to Clingman's Dome without packs. Keith waited for us (5.5 hours).  Along the way, we climbed Mt Collins and had lunch at Mt Collins shelter on the Appalachian Trail. The second view from Clingman's Dome was much better than the first.

Throughout the entire trip, we never saw a bear.  The ranger said we were in prime bear country and that they had more bear sightings this year than ever before.

The other group also faced many challenges.  They started their trip with a 5 mile incline of 2900 feet.  They went too fast and wore out many in their group. Then they had to walk quite a ways to get water.  In fact, many of their days found them wanting for water.  Tuesday for them brought a long day with many ups and downs. One of their leaders got heat stroke.  One boy started chafing. Another boy had an upset stomach.  Several of the people in their group were cold at night.  One particular miracle was for the heat stroke victim.  He was blessed that he would be healed...that he would be able to stand up and finish the trip.  When they said amen, he looked at the boys, stood up and said "Let's go."  He was healed.  

Friday night, we finished with a testimony of both groups. One boy in particular really stands out in my mind. He shared that he has struggled recently with knowing where God is in his life and where he stands in God's life...he's struggling seeing God around him. When he said "I've found God in these mountains this week," I knew the trip was a success. That testimony alone made the entire week worth the effort.

Lessons learned:

• Preparation: trips of this rigor require physical, mental, and spiritual preparation
• Plans and Contingency Plans: you have to know what you want to do, then you have to know what you're going to do when things change
• Gear: you must pack the right gear and nothing more.  If you don't need it, leave it behind
• Prayer: when you need inspiration, pray...then listen to the promptings
• Attitude: no matter what happens, you must have a positive attitude...it will all work out

"And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things." 1 Nephi 18:3

"...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear." D&C 38:30