To Be Amazing, You Have to Do Amazing!--Mt. Stuart with our Stake YW.

Applying "sunscreen" that I borrowed from a YW--it was actually some type of make up with a sunscreen element to it...regardless, it worked; and I'm pretty sure it made me smell really sexy.

 The scramble to the summit.

 The ridge overlooking Stuart Lake.

 A summit smile.

 

 Despite the occasional exposure, the YW climbed like champs.

The Summit with Brother Borchert and the YW.

 The view from the false summit.

Our hasty belay with a very fortunate piece of webbing. 

Since being called to the Stake Presidency, I have tried to divide my time equally between YM and YW.  We have an outstanding group of YW in our Stake who are courageous and seek to challenge themselves physically.  A recent climb of Mt. Stuart with a few of them, yielded a most remarkable spiritual experience.  Below is the email that I sent to Sister Calaway (the Selah Stake YW's President) following our climb to memorialize what occurred.  

 

Sister Calaway:

 

I wanted to again thank you for your pre-climb prayer in the parking lot before we left.  We talked about that prayer on the mountain way before things got scary.   We talked about how much Sister Calaway loved each of the YW and the power that comes with a righteous prayer.  What I didn’t share with them was President Grow’s (and my) concern over your use of the term “extraordinary.”  Please never again pray for “extraordinary” experiences when I am leading a group of youth!  When you spoke those words I was really concerned.  "Extraordinary" things happen when someone gets sick or injured and we have to rely on each to get off the mountain.  Please know that I was extra careful because of your prayer.

I want to share with you my personal observations about our climb so you know what really happened:  Just below the false summit there was a lot of rock fall—some of it quite dangerous.  We went slow and constantly communicated to avoid dislodging something that would injure another member of our team.  The YW were a little unsettled after we gained the false summit and I could tell they were unsure about continuing.  We were only 400’ from the summit, but the vertical scrambling/climbing was ahead of us.  I urged them on.  I struggled to find a good line to the summit.  We gained the ridge where I was comfortable and we could move quickly, but the YW were really concerned about the big (2,000’) vertical drop off to the north.  They were moving very cautiously, so we descended off the ridge in an attempt to find a safer route.  Instead, we found ourselves repeatedly having to scale a number of challenging 10-15' mini cliffs.  By this point in time, the YW had zero confidence in my route finding abilities, and  clearly doubted that I could find a safe route to the summit.  I could hear them questioning me, “How are we going to get back?”  I assured them that we would find a safer, easier route back. (I might have lied just a little bit.) 

I was watching the building clouds to the east (which were moving directly towards us) and was very concerned about the slow pace we had settled into.  Many of the clouds were dark clouds, with menacing anvils on the top (this type of cloud sometimes produce thunderstorms).  The summit route would be a very exposed place to be in a thunderstorm.  My anxiety was building and I kept thinking about your prayer where you pleaded with Heavenly Father for these YW to have “extraordinary” experiences.  “What was Sister Calaway thinking?!”  I wondered.  No one wants to be the leader where YW are going to have extraordinary experiences.   I was guessing that we had about an hour to get to the summit and return before these dark clouds hit us.  Our pace was likely going to take us a little longer.  We had one last challenging vertical climb (about 15’) to gain the summit.  I was really pushing the YW at this point. Our motto to that point had been: “Be Amazing, Climb Strong!”  I had to remind them, “If you want to be amazing, you have to do amazing!”  I feel bad about how hard I pushed them, but I was feeling some anxiety about the clouds in the offing.   When we arrived at the summit, a thick cloud moved in.  I could no longer see the menacing clouds in the distance, but was now concerned that we would have difficulty spotting the cairns in the low visibility and that it would take us even longer to return.  Of course, I was keeping all of this to myself. I was outwardly expressing as much confidence as I could muster for the benefit of the YW. I asked Brother Borchert to offer a prayer on the summit.  It was, similar to your prayer, one of the most powerful, heartfelt prayers I have ever participated in. He paused multiple times during this prayer searching for the right words to speak.  The Spirit was as powerful as I have ever felt.  When he ended, the thick cloud that had descended upon us was literally breaking up and moving to the South.  We were amazed to see blue skies peeking through this cloud, which was seemingly “fleeing” from us.  I use the word “fleeing” because it felt like the elements had changed immediately and that this cloud was being moved or chased from our presence.  As we ended the prayer, I noticed that a couple of the YW were crying. I simply asked them, “Can you feel that?!”  We all looked up and commented on the dissipating cloud. The Lord had heard our prayer. With renewed confidence we immediately set off searching for an easier route to descend to the false summit.

My hope was that the heavens would remain open long enough to let us get to the false summit, and perhaps to the 8,500’ level where we might be a little more protected.  I had a difficult time with route finding coming off the summit as well, and again could sense that the YW were doubting my ability to lead.  In fairness to me, however, it’s not like these are established trails; you basically pick the best line you can and fight your way to and from a summit.  Route finding is part of the challenge of mountaineering.  I always expect to be a little lost and am comfortable trying to find a route.  The YW clearly did not share my enthusiasm for route finding.  We experienced some challenging down climbs coming off the summit, but again the YW did extremely well. They exhibited great courage and faith.  

Throughout the remainder of the day, the building dark clouds literally “fled” from before us.  Menacing clouds continually moved towards us and at the last minute dissipated or moved to the south, away from our path.  I kept thinking about the Psalm of Nephi, who had been carried away to a high mountain and cried that the Lord would make his paths clear.  2 Nep. 4: 32-33.  I don’t know how else to explain the phenomenon that we continued to witness all day—where clouds were literally moved away from us.  While sometimes it was raining in the valley below us, our climbing conditions were really pleasant.

There were a couple of other tender mercies at different points along the way.  First, finding relatively clean water on the false summit in a small depression of a rock that we could filter when we were essentially out of water.  This was huge because our descent took us much longer than expected and we were definitely in need of water.  Second, Madison Brown just happened (at the insistence of a righteous father) to bring along 25-30’ of webbing—the exact length we needed to safely descend a precipice blocking our path.  Without this, we would have been required to up climb (and backtrack) 500’ at a time that we were literally exhausted.

Most importantly, this climb reaffirmed the great confidence I have in our YW.  They are amazing, because they do amazing! They exhibited great faith and obedience in following their leaders even when they were way beyond their comfort level; they endured pain, sleep deprivation and exhaustion with hardly a complaint.  They were buoyant and cheerful throughout the climb, making it truly a pleasure to climb with them. I am particularly impressed with Madison Brown.  She was in a lot of pain. She had painful blisters early Saturday morning and could have quit.  Despite this, she soldiered on without complaint. Her determination perhaps bordered sheer stubbornness. I was so proud of her.  She struggled the last few hours of the climb, but kept moving.   The manifestation of the Spirit was something I will never forget, but more important than that was the Spirit of adventure, courage and determination exhibited by these very beautiful and tough YW. You would have been so proud of them.  It was such an honor to accompany them.

I hope that this experience does not jeopardize my opportunities to lead our YW again.  My patriarchal blessing promised me great opportunities to lead youth.  This experience has reaffirmed that promise.  The reality is that mountains are dangerous places.  We try to be as careful as we can.  I pushed hard for the summit because I believed in our YW.  I felt pretty strongly about not turning back. I wanted them to be physically challenged and go beyond their comfort level.  Good things happen when we push ourselves physically.  In retrospect, I’m not sure I would do a straight-through 24 hour climb with our YW again.  I would do it with adults who knew what they were in for, but I think the YW had no idea what to expect, and were a little shocked by the sheer physicality of this climb.  They worked very, very hard for 24 hours straight with no sleep and were mentally and emotionally stressed beyond what they had perhaps previously experienced.  In the end it was an “extraordinary” experience for all of us.

I can’t say enough how grateful I am to Eric Borchert, Ester Montgomery and Tom Gearheart.  I love these great youth leaders!  A big thanks to President Grow, and our "rescue team."  Although, we were never in need of rescue, our hearts were lifted when we saw their campfire at Engel's Creek and realized they had come to help us ascend the difficult trail up Long’s Pass.  Also the food you and Sister Grow provided at the trailhead was greatly appreciated!

Finally, Brother Borchert’s prayer on the summit will forever be etched in my memory as a moment in time that I felt my Heavenly  Father’s love for me and the youth of our stake. I have no doubts that He hears and answers prayers—sometimes even in immediate and miraculous ways.  At noon, on September 21^st,  on the summit of Mt. Stuart, the heavens literally parted and I glimpsed a small portion of the love and power of God.    Despite the wonder and power of that day, we will likely never invite YOU to offer prayer at the beginning of a big physical youth activity.   “Extraordinary” is simply too stressful for leaders.     Again, thanks for all you and your presidency do for the YW of our stake. 

 

Darrell Smart