Staff-X is the culmination of staff training for our excursions staff. Shaun and I are blessed each summer to lead 14 college aged students as they minister to youth at Eagle Lake Camp through the Excursions Program. Excursions takes kids out into the wilderness to experience God's creation in a way that most of them have never done before. Some of the activities that our staff must be trained on each summer include mountain biking, rock climbing, backpacking, kayaking, rappelling, and orienteering.
Training our staff on each of those skills takes four weeks and then at the end of that time we get to enjoy some awesome time in God's creation on Staff-X. We pick a fourteener (a 14,000 ft peak) in Colorado to summit and then spend a few nights at a base camp in order to give our staff time for a 24 hour SOLO in the wilderness. Our time on Staff-X always proves to be such a refreshing and beneficial time for everyone and this year was no different.
We chose to summit Mt. Harvard this year and were surprised to find out that there was still A LOT of snow left from some late spring storms. We backpacked up from the trailhead for about 4 miles to our basecamp to discover that dry land was incredibly difficult to come by. Luckily we found one large dry spot where we decided to make camp. At least that way we could all gather together on dry land for meals and hang out time. Shaun and I ended up pitching our tent on snow. That was a first for us!
We successfully summitted Mt. Harvard on our second day. It was a very steep climb up with lots of snow. Then on the way down we got to enjoy some glisading which is basically sledding without a sled (rain pants make it much easier:-) Once we reached our basecamp again it was time to put the staff out on their SOLO's. Each person was placed out of sight of anyone else but within earshot and they remained alone in the wilderness for 24 hours in order to allow them time to rest and meditate on the Lord.
Once everyone got back together again after SOLO's it was a great time of fellowship together. Four weeks ago all of us were strangers but now to see the bonding that had taken place was such a blessing. Staff-X is a sweet time for us to enjoy God's beauty and build relationships with our staff. I was so glad to be able to join the excursions staff once again this summer. Here are some pictures to give you a better visual of what we experienced.
At the trailhead getting ready to hike.....no snow yet!
Our little oasis in the midst of lots of snow and moisture:-)
One of our summer staff women, Jen, trying to keep warm with the help of Zorro
What an awesome God we serve!
The hardest part of the summit was climbing up this steep face
All of the Excursions staff (or X-Unit) at the top of Mt. Harvard
All of the ladies- love these girls!
