Dave remembers hiking the Subway some 20 years ago with his family when he was about 16 years old. I vividly remember standing in the kitchen when he asked if I'd like to hike the Subway with him. I seem to always tell Dave no on adventurous things. I river rafted with him once....that was enough...I'm not a strong swimmer. I have snowmobiled a couple of times but that's really something he goes and does on his own. I did hike with Dave right after we were first married and I thought that I'd rather be on land than in the water so I said I would go. It was even decided from the get-go that Hannah was hiking also.
In weeks prior to the hike, Dave and I started walking around Mendon. We got to the point that we were walking 3 miles at a pretty good pace and we were even jogging a bit until I rolled my ankle the first part of July. Two days after I rolled my ankle we were suppose to hike Latham's Hollow as a family but I still couldn't walk. Dave wanted me to stay behind so my ankle could rest for the Subway hike. He did end up going and took Hannah and Ashley and he said these two did an amazing job. The hike was only suppose to be 6 miles but ended up being 8 1/2 due to the high waters and the canyon being closed on the other side where the pick-up car was suppose to be.
Throughout the next couple of weeks Dave and I continued walking even though I continued to still have issues with my ankle. Now it's time for the Subway hike. What am I going to do? My ankle still hurts at the end of the day. Can I really hike the 10 miles of the Subway?
Let the story begin.....
The Subway
Let me start by saying this hike ranks in one of the top five hardest things I've ever done. I've thought about what my list would be of the hardest things I've ever done and here's what I came up with:
#1 - child birth - c-sections are not easy...especially with Hannah when I had to fight so hard for my life
#2 - losing my dad
#3 - living with my in-laws (I hope no offense is taken but this was one of the hardest things to do.)
#4 - Hiking the Subway
#5- River Rafting the Rogue River
For a couple of days prior to this hike, I would pray fervently to my Father in Heaven asking that if this hike was something that I couldn't do then I needed something to happen to make it so I couldn't go. In my prayers, I asked that I'd be able to make it out because I was leaving two girls behind that needed me. If there were any chance that I would get hurt or not be able to make it out then I needed the miracle so that I didn't enter the Subway.
As I'm sure you've already figured out, I never received the prompting or miracle that I shouldn't do the hike and let me just say my faith grew 10 fold in this adventure because I know my Heavenly Father carried me through this hike. The Sunday before we left, we sang "Faith in Every Footstep" in sacrament meeting and this song played over and over and over again in my head as I did this hike. This is what kept me going and as I tell the story you'll see why.
The morning began at 4:45 a.m. when the alarm went off so we could get up, dress, eat breakfast, and be down to the truck by 5:30 a.m. Hannah got up and got ready to go with us while Ashley and Nicole slept and stayed behind with Grandma Welker.
We left the hotel parking lot pretty much on time and headed to the hiking location. We stopped and left our truck and trailer at the take out point and hopped in with the Ropers and up the road we went to the hike starting point. I have to say I was impressed. The goal was to begin the hike at 7:30 a.m. and it was 7:30 a.m. on the dot when we began.
The trail's not looking to bad to begin with.
Here's the group: Janee, Grandpa, Brandon, Nate, Glade, Bryce Dave, Ben, Bridger, Sam, Me and Hannah.
These section was pretty cool. Dave said the rocks would be awesome to take a 4-wheeler on. Hannah was all over chasing the lizards!
You have to go "down" to get to the Subway. This was the first major decent. I had to make sure and get some photos that we actually climbed down this stuff.
Phew! We made it down and now comes the adventures in the Subway.
Here's the first water section that we needed to wade in. Can I just say the water was freezing! I'd love to get Janee's video of the next water section where it came up to my chest and I scream the whole way because it was cold!
Then came the "Indiana Jones" section of the hike. This is where Nate and Dave had gone a scouted things out and determined it would be better to send Hannah, Grandpa, Me and Janee around this swimming section. Well, sending us "around" meant climbing up on the hillside, crawling on our hands and knees in wet mossy mud to reach a point where we could use the rope and come down the mountain on the other side and bypass the swim.
Now let me just say as we were crawling under the rock, Dave, Nate and Glade we walking the edge with the rope in case someone started to slide. They said they had good footing but holy crap I was scared to death because if you went off the edge.....you were done for.
I remember Glade putting his hand out to get me over a hurdle. I thought to myself, "you've got to be kidding me! There's not enough room there for both my feet!" As we were crawling, Hannah was in front, then Grandpa, then me, and Janee was behind me. It was so hard as a mom to have Grandpa between me and Hannah when she came to a section that she was freaked about about scooting around. All I could do was give words of encouragement that I was behind her and that she could do it.
Then came the point where Grandpa was now scooting on him bum (he told Hannah to try it this way because it was easier on the knees) and I hear him say, "I'm sliding. I'm sliding." I look up and yes he's sliding! Nate came over and stopped him with his foot. Thank goodness they said they had good footing!
It was at the point where it was my turn to cross the little hurdle that Hannah struggled on when the tears came and I said, "Do you guys know how hard this is?!?!?" It came to my mind once again that I wouldn't be in this situation if my Heavenly Father knew I wouldn't make it so I trudged forward and we all made it down safely. Then Dave, Nate and Glade climbed back over to do and do the swim.
Glad to see we're still smiling!
Here's some fun at a little waterfall. Too bad the pictures came out fuzzy! Where's me you ask? I took the "easy" way and jumped down off the right hand side....I'm at the bottom taking the pictures.
Now comes the second part where the tears came because I was so scared. You'll look at the pictures below and not think the rock looks that steep but let me tell you that when you're standing at the top looking down and seeing what they want you to do.....the rock is VERY steep.
This is the last hurdle in the subway. After you reach this point, you're home free of the obstacles and the rest is easy-peasy (or so we thought). At this section, you have to use the rope, walk backwards down the hill and then the last 6 feet is a drop off to the bottom.
When it was Hannah's turn to attempt this I freaked out. I had to turn and look into the mountain. I could not watch my child walk backwards down a mountain using the strength of her arms only (no harness) to reach the bottom. Nate's at the bottom but what if she loses her grip? Will he catch her?
Janee was up next. She did a great job getting down. Then I knew it was my turn. Dave's at the top coaching me on that I can do it but I started to cry. I don't think my arms are strong enough to hold me weight the entire walk down. What if I lose my grip? What if my arms get tired? Dave asks me if I'd like the harness. "Can I use it?" He hooks me up using the harness and last year's family reunion experience kicks in of repelling down the mountain (thanks to Kevin and family) and down the mountain I went.
At the bottom of this section was some waterfalls. Dave asks if I want to swim back and see them. At this point the answer is no. I am done. I want to be out of here. I took off walking with Grandpa while Dave and Hannah went back and played in the waterfalls. Hannah's fun comment is that her and her Dad took a shower in the waterfall.
Grandpa came down after me using the harness.
Then Dave....minus the harness.
My friend Jessie did the subway hike last year. She had told me a lot of things to expect on the hike and her insight was very helpful. Her words kept ringing in my ears that once you reach this obstacle you're at the end of the subway and then you have a straight across walk in hot sand which takes about an hour and then you have the miserable climb up the side of the mountain to the top.
Nate and Dave remember the hike from years ago that when you come out of the subway it opens up and you can "knock the bottom part out" and reach the miserable climb up the side of the mountain.
We came out of the Subway portion and the cool red rock falls and decided to stop and filter water. We knew we'd need as much water as possible for the climb out. I remember words between Nate and I where I asked how much farther he thought we had. I needed an idea so I could get my mind set. I commented that we should be to the truck by 8 o'clock right? Yes. We should be to the truck by 8 o'clock no problem.
The water was filtered and everyone took off. Dave, me, Hannah and Glade were the last to leave because we had to put the filter away. We were about 20 minutes behind everyone else. The trail was suppose to open up and be sand and off we'd go. Well let me just say that due to the wet spring/summer there was no sand trail. For the next 3 hours we hiked over boulders. We would go in the water and over boulders to the other side. Then you'd go back in the water and over boulders to the other side. This continued on and on and on for the 3 hours.
It was so frustrating to be on a trail for a few minutes and feel that you're climbing and then all of the sudden I would look up and see the Glade had gone back down into the water and was climbing on boulders again. All the while knowing that he was heading to the other side which meant that we'd have to cross back over once again because the mountain we needed to scale to get out of the canyon was on the other side. This happened over and over and over.
After being on our own for 2 1/2 hours we finally came to a spot to rest and refuel our energy. At this point it is now after 8 o'clock. What? I was suppose to be at the truck by now but instead I start to panic that we're lost. Hannah has reached her exhaustion point. She's been hiking since 7:30 a.m. and she laid down on a rock. Dave told her that she had to sit up. She couldn't stop. I didn't blame her though. I myself wanted to lay down on a rock and give up. I'm exhausted! I started questioning Dave and Glade and asking if they'd seen any of the trail markers in the last little bit. I didn't get a picture of one of the trail markers but they're a stack of 3 to 4 rocks showing the say. Well can I just say that when you're walking through a sea of boulders it's a bit hard to see a small stack of rocks.
Like I said I started panicking at this point. I asked Dave and Glade how on earth we hadn't caught up to his Dad by now. These boulders are hard to get over. How have we not caught up? This is why I was thinking that we weren't on the right trail or that we'd pass where we needed to be heading up. As we were standing there, I looked at the mountain, which was on the other side....yep....gonna have to cross again......and I saw Nate's bright green shirt climbing up the side of the mountain! Hurray! We weren't lost and we'd found the exit point. Then we heard Janee's whistle. What a boost of adrenaline that gave. Once Hannah saw Aunt Janee she was up and ready to head out.
I hope Dave's Dad and Janee know what a welcoming sight they were. We were so disheartened that we couldn't find anyone and seeing their faces were amazing. Thanks to Dave's Dad who was stubborn enough to say that he wouldn't start climbing out until we came.
Janee led the way with Hannah and me behind. We took off up the side of the mountain and Dave and Glade stayed back to assist Dave's Dad in getting up the side of the hill. They say they're suppose to be switchbacks going up the side of the mountain. I have to disagree. It was a straight up climb with a few boulders along the way for footing/hand holds (if I never see a boulder again in my life it will be too soon). At this point though, I didn't care. I knew that once I got to the top the truck was there and it would be over.
Hannah was a trooper and up the mountain she went. She would stop along the way and play/try to catch frogs. I actually thought the hike up out wasn't too bad. It was a lot better than those stinkin' boulders. I had to stop a few times to rest but not too bad. One nice thing was that the sun was behind the mountain so it wasn't beating down on us. Bonus! I guess Nate didn't have the heart to tell us that after you climbed the steep mountain you still had another 1/2 mile to reach the truck. I didn't care though. It was a flat walk...no boulders... and then end was near. Janee, Hannah and I reached our truck at 9 p.m. That is 13 1/2 hours of hiking. Oh my gosh! The truck is a welcoming sight!
It's getting to the point that it's getting dark so I climbed in our trailer and pulled out two flashlights. Hannah and Janee headed back down the trail to find Dave, Glade and Grandpa and help them make it to the truck with a little light. They made it to the truck at 9:25 p.m. That's 14 hours of hiking for them but they made it!
How was this hike a faith growing experience. In my moments of despair and when I was so scared of what I was being asked to do I kept telling myself that Heavenly Father wouldn't have let me do this hike if I couldn't make it. With this knowledge and "Faith in Every Footstep" playing in my head I kept putting one foot in front of the other and I made it! It ended up being a huge testimony builder for me.
We also had amazing men on the hike with us. If it weren't for Dave, Nate and Glade the hike wouldn't have been doable. A huge eye opener for me in my marriage to Dave in knowing how much trust I place in him. When I can look Dave square in the eye and say, "is it better for me to go around than do the swim?" and he gives me the nod that it's better. I didn't question it a bit. I turned around and started the climb. I know he's going to do everything in his power to protect me. Thus, I trust him with my life.
What an experience this turned out to be. I'm blessed to have been able to experience this with Dave, Hannah and the Welker family. It's a memory that most won't be able to have. I hope that Hannah is old enough to remember parts of it. To me I think she'll mostly remember playing with the tadpoles and catching one that had both feet and a tail, chasing the lizards, and playing with the frogs on the climb out. She is an amazing kid. She never really complained and only ran out of steam at the end. For a nine year old to hike for 14 hours, I think that's and amazing accomplishment.
What an amazing thing to experience with Dave. He is an amazing man.
We made it!!!
2 comments:
What great memories we will have forever! Thanks for continuing to inspire me. We do some crazy things don't we!
That is an amazing story! Thanks for sharing it with us all. I am sure Hanna will remember it (probably fondly) as a great family outing.
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