48 Km in 48 hrs

For a while I've been planning the "man-adventure." Which involved me travelling through the wilderness with food, a tarp, a map and a compass. I know I surprise myself sometimes. Anyhow, I decided to ready myself in stages, and the first stage was to sleep outside in the woods without a tent. I took the opportunity at a retreat center near Guelph. I laid down out my tarp, spread my sleeping bag, and tried sleeping. It was pretty hard, but I was getting through all right. Then something unexpected happened. A long, lone howl broke the night. I was like, "wow, sounded like a coyote or something," it was scary. Then it came again, then another joined in, and another, and another, getting to the point where it sounded like some sort of demonic choir of howling. I was freaked. I grabbed my staff, my knife, and my light and jetted back to the comfort of the retreat center rooms. I found out later they were coy-dogs, a cross between wild dogs and coyotes.

So, needless to say I invested in a tent. My man-adventure now consisted of one less tarp, and plus a tent. I won't recount all the details of this solo-hiking trip. It lasted from Sunday 4pm until Tuesday 4pm. I travelled over 50 Km. It was painful, my feet have never been so blistered and I haven't walked with a limp for a while. I was glad that I got the opportunity to push myself. I think highschool rugby was the last time I pushed through so much pain. I broke my wrist in a rugby game once and continued playing for 2 seasons until I went to the doctor. That was stupid, but it required some serious perseverence.

So physically, the trip was demanding, though I'm a little more broad minded now than how much muscle I can pack on. What did the trip do for me mentally and spiritually? I think I realized I tend to create fears when I'm in unfamiliar situations. Like imagining that every twig snap was some coy-dog coming after me (that only happened once, and it was a real dog, and he was nice). As I got more used to the woods, I became less fearful. I'll keep that in mind when I get scared doing new things.

Spiritually the trip was refreshing. I'll make two small points. One, when it comes to perseverence, ability is a small part of it. I could've gone a 100 Km if I had wanted, but I didn't have the drive. If there was some goal, something I found worthy, I would've walked till my blistered feet were bloody humps. I'm going to make sure I invest more in keeping my vision of future goals fresh.

The second point is, I need Jesus. I found parts of my hike scary and overwhelming. I prayed a lot at night, and trusted that Christ's sovereign plan controlled the motions of any wild beasts or falling tree branches (I camped in the most windy forest imaginable!). This is what I'm most thankful for. As I head to North Africa, I don't want to think I'm there because I am a capable young man - I'm not. My God is though, and it's in his care and power that I tread into new territory.

"Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!"
Ps 24