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The Escalante
35 Plays3 days ago
In this gripping episode of the Uncommon Wealth podcast, host Phillip Ramsey, alongside close friends Nate Ober, Bart Boyd, and Todd Hoffman, embark on an epic journey to the Grand Canyon. This episode shares the highs and lows of their ambitious Escalante Route hiking trip, revealing the trials and triumphs encountered along the way. Starting with a troublesome van rental experience and continuing with harsh weather conditions, physical challenges, and emotional resilience, listeners are taken on a detailed recount of the group's incredible adventure.
The four friends, each an integral part of Phillip's connection group, channel their faith and friendship, navigating unexpected hurdles that amplify their journey's significance. Despite facing severe weather, exhaustion, and injuries, they collectively decide to tackle adversity head-on, drawing parallels to life's unpredictable nature. With reflections on teamwork, trust, and the binding power of community, this episode illuminates the essence of true companionship.
Key Takeaways:
- The Power of Preparation: The group emphasized the importance of preparation for challenging endeavors, yet acknowledged that no amount of planning can truly predict all eventualities.
- Community and Support: The adventure underscored the necessity of mutual support and communication, driving home the message that shared struggles strengthen bonds.
- Faith Amidst Adversity: Faith in God played a central role in navigating the trip's challenges, highlighting the spiritual growth fostered by real-world experiences.
- Accepting Change: Flexibility in the face of changing plans and unexpected hurdles reflects maturity and adaptability.
- Nature's Magnificence: Experiencing the unyielding awe of the Grand Canyon illustrated nature's grandeur and their own
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Transcript
Introduction to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Everyone dreams of living an uncommon life, and the best asset you have to achieve your dreams is you. Welcome to the Uncommon Wealth Podcast. We're going to introduce you to people who are living uncommonly. We're also going to give you some tools and strategies for building wealth and for pursuing an uncommon path that is uniquely right for you.
Setting the Stage: Grand Canyon Adventure
00:00:26
Speaker
Hello and welcome everybody to another episode of the Un-Commonwealth Podcast where I'm your host, Philip Ramsey. Today we're gonna get into it. You know, everybody probably looks at Philip and his life and is like, oh, you got everything put together. Let me tell you, I don't, okay? And this is a really good example of that time. um I'm not gonna get in too much out of it, but we're gonna talk about a trip that I went with ah three of my closest friends. We went to this place called the Grand Canyon. And if you've never been to it, I think the word that we would probably talk about the most is just unbelievable. Like something you have to see. It could be one of the wonders of the world, and I know why.
00:01:00
Speaker
And so we're gonna get into all of it, how the trip went, but basically this is a recap of me and this is the first time we've had four people in the studio. So super excited about it. I wanna go around.
Friendship Formed Through Church
00:01:11
Speaker
We have Nate Ober, Bart Boyd, and Todd Hoffman, myself. We all went together. It was quite the trip. And so first I wanna go in and just let's introduce each other. Let's have you introduce yourself and how do we know each other? Start with Nate, let's go.
00:01:27
Speaker
Hi, my name is Nate Ober. I met these guys, Phil and Todd, probably about six years ago with a connection group through church, and didn't realize at the time Phil's mom and my mom have known each other for like 40 some years. They used to do craft night together. True story. Diane Ober, everyone. And then Bart, probably a year later,
00:01:49
Speaker
um He and Amy joined our group and got to know him real well and um and they journeyed with me through some of life's most difficult challenges and so because of that journey and just our um like interest, um really developed a close bond and I knew that these guys on this trip was gonna be epic, so. Yeah, that's it sure was. Alright, Bart Boyd. Yep, Bart Boyd. um So I've known Nate and Todd for, like you said, I think five-ish years. Met through the church, connection group, was in Phil's connection group where I met these guys and, and like Nate said, just kind of grew a bond and and a friendship that, um
00:02:31
Speaker
Gosh, it's hard to kind of replicate with other friends, so it's kind of what brought us on this journey to the Grand Canyon. I actually met Phil in probably 2012. I was in the midst of starting a gym, kind of had a crew of small guys that, or shouldn't say small guys. No, he can say small guys. Small guys, because I was a very small guy. Still kind of am. That we're starting to come to my garage, which eventually grew up, grew into a huge gym and an awesome venture, but that's how I started to come to know Phil and grown to love the dude, and now we're here. That's good. Fun fact, Bart's married to Amy Boyd, which she's been on the show, so she has talked to her gym. Yeah, a stud in her own right, so. Yeah, right, and now she's doing some big things, so we should probably have her back on the show. Good call. Cool. Todd Hoffman. Yeah, Todd Hoffman.
00:03:26
Speaker
I'm going to start with Philip. He and I were actually, um, had the opportunity to, when we, when I moved into Ankeny in 2008-ish, does that seem about right, Phil? 2007. 2007. We were actually neighbors. So we were both bachelors at the time. Um, shortly after Aaron, um, and Philip, um, kind of became a thing. Um, I got to know, you know, the opportunity to know Aaron and then my wife, Rachel, um,
00:03:51
Speaker
lived with me shortly after that as well. So we ah have known each other for quite some time now. And then obviously through, as Nate and Bart mentioned, um we had the opportunity to join Philip and Aaron's connection group through our church. And then um it's kind of been history after that. That's how I had the opportunity to meet Nate and Bart. And um I'm telling you, I'm thankful every day for all of you guys and the relationship that we have and these you know the stuff that hopefully this isn't the end of it. you know This trip wasn't the most pleasant experience for any of us. Don't spoil it. Don't spoil it. I know, but I truly hope that we have you know more of these um opportunities going forward. but
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah, I do too. i So Todd and I obviously we've known each other's neighbors, but the way that we found like we met each other was the most epic thing because my house was built by a builder that probably just didn't care much and his house was a beautiful house.
00:04:45
Speaker
But my builder didn't do a good job grading the backyard. And so I get a knock at my door after this magnificent rain. It was a crazy rain. And it's Todd, first time I met my neighbor. He's like, Hey, great to meet you. I'm your neighbor, which is so nice, right? Your backyard's in my basement. And I'm like, I'm sorry, what? Yeah, so I guess all the dirt like went straight to his egress window, blew out his window, and it's just now in his
Planning the Grand Canyon Trip
00:05:11
Speaker
basement. so that's how i That could almost be a podcast in a itself, to be honest with you. My wife and I had gotten home from our honeymoon literally that night the night before that happened. I was standing in my window well up to my chest in water, yeah and we had had some rains before that, but it was just i mean had nothing to do with Phil or our relationship or anything. That was really his
00:05:32
Speaker
The builder probably that built a house and a couple other houses in the area. They literally graded the properties in the backyard. It ran through their backyards right in my window. Well, like it had to be just a perfect storm. But um yeah, I mean, it's it's as awkward as it was at the time. I'm grateful that it happened. I guess. Oh, me too. Me too. We had the group the best neighbor. like I would say like, I would be like, Hey, we need some flour for sugar or like sugar cookies or something. And I go over and and he'd be like, yeah, here it is. And then I bring him over cookies. It was just a great neighbor. dish And then I always remember like, man, he would be great. Like, I just want them to start coming to church. And that's how it all is. So if you haven't understood the common theme, we were all in the same connection group, small group, got to do life together. And that's where we're kind of started thinking.
00:06:18
Speaker
Hey, it would be really cool to do something epic. So where did we get this idea? Whose idea was this? I'm going to say Nate. I'm going to blame it on Nate. Might as well. um So Nate and I started a couple years ago meeting on Friday mornings. It was really to kind of connect on a different level, help each other through some life struggles, help with accountability. And and and with that, we started kind of reading books.
00:06:49
Speaker
And with those, it was like men being men and and guys doing dude things. And that's kind of where this idea grew out of, like, hey, let's do something really gnarly, really cool that we can have some great stories, but also bond through. And I don't know really where the Grand Canyon came out of that, but I'm going to blame it on you. Yeah, I'll pass the buck on that. But yeah, to kind of piggyback on what Bart was saying, ah Bart and I were reading a book called Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. And if any dude has not read that, I would recommend reading that. And we're both like in our mid-lives, you know, we work corporate jobs. It's kind of a constant like,
00:07:31
Speaker
man, I want to do something meaningful. And as you're reading through these books, you're like, God designed you for so much more. And a lot of that's found in creation. So I know all four of us being in Connection Group, we would talk a lot about, hey, we need to do some adventures.
00:07:47
Speaker
And Todd and I, over the past couple years ago, ice fishing up in Minnesota, and and we've had an an adventure last year ah in in its own right there. um But when we brought this up, I remember we met for breakfast and like, let's plan something. Phil is actually the one that came up with the Grand Canyon, so he can explain that one. yeah Yeah, so I think, and Todd and I always talked about, dude, it'd be fun to do some kind of epic trip together. So it's funny how you guys were talking about the same thing and then we got connected. ah But it was just the right, it was the right chemistry, it was the right people. Here's how I heard heard about the old Escalante route.
00:08:26
Speaker
um So I have a friend that lives up in Ames. Hold on for one second. Before Phil gets into this, I have one thing I want to mention is that for all the listeners, you all know Phil, you know his personality, you know his experiences, and you know his adventure.
00:08:43
Speaker
As he leads into this and kind of how this got started, I just want to mention that you know where this is going. He's, we're not going to do anything easy or it's going to be something that is truly like challenging, yeah adventurous. All in. All 100% all in and probably um that's good requires some experience.
00:09:02
Speaker
Yeah. OK. So i I was talking to a buddy up in Ames, Iowa. He's a pastor. And I was telling him how I took my son on a rite of passage. It was a weekend long. We talked about, you know, it's like, hey, now we're going to look at you as a an adult figure or a man. I should say a man in our family.
00:09:21
Speaker
And then I had his grandpas were there and then his uncle was there. We all like poured in. This is what it means to be a man in our family. Okay. So I was pretty excited about this. And so I'm having lunch with this pastor up in Ames. And I said, and I mentioned, I did this and he goes, that is so cool. I just took my son on a rite of passage. And I was like.
00:09:37
Speaker
Okay. What did you do? He's like, I took my brother and we took both of our sons that were 13 and we did this thing called the Escalante route. That's where it was born. Okay. So immediately I was like, okay, tell me more. That is the coolest thing. He was like, it took us four days. It was the gnarliest thing I've ever like experienced. I was like,
00:09:59
Speaker
really he's like yeah he's like it was really steep he's like i can't tell you the first three days we were calling our our boys like hey boys get to get away from the side like boys don't fall boys boys he's like by the by the fourth day we were calling him men because they got through this thing so i was like okay that's super cool and he was like but he's like the first i told my brother about it he was like yeah just plan it we're in And so the first whole day they were hiking, his brother was very quiet. And my my friends Drew, so they get to their first campsite in their tent and the two boys have a tent and then the two adults have the tent to do brothers. And Drew's like, hey,
00:10:38
Speaker
I'm so sorry. I didn't realize this was going to be that hard. And his brother about like, I am so glad you said that. I thought you're going to come out here and kill us all. Like that's how bad it was and how hard it was. And so in their tent, they come up with this plan. Like we're going to get up tomorrow. We're going to tell the boys, hey, great job. You're a man. Like we're going to dip our toe in that river and we're getting out of this thing. OK? And so so they get up the next morning and everyone gets up and they're like, guys, we're so proud of you.
00:11:06
Speaker
we're goingnna we're going to head on out. you know like We did what we wanted to do. And both their boys are like, no, we're excited. We're going. We're doing this thing. And so ah they ended up going through the whole thing. And so that's what it kind of started. And so when we decided we wanted to do something, I was like, hey, I've i've got this thing in the back of my mind. I don't really know about it, but let's try to do it. um So when I say, let's kind of move on to when I say, I just got Escalante'd, what does that mean?
00:11:36
Speaker
All right, so let's talk. talk So we get we we ended up the I will say like if you ever want to try to do something backcountry in the Grand Canyon or anywhere, it is not an easy process. And so ah we were almost at our wits end just trying to get passes to get to the backcountry because they're not going to get everybody. I mean, we started the planning a year out.
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. This was, you're right. You're right. And so I started kind of figuring out what to do. I mean, I couldn't figure this out at all and we're all pretty busy. Finally. I just called Nathan. I called Nate and I was like, Hey, you got to help me with this. And luckily he did because it is not an easy process. You have to apply, but then you get denied and then you have to go in and then you have to figure out your dates and the camping sites you want to go to.
00:12:19
Speaker
which comes later, but we finally get, we get a green light and maybe not the exact itinerary that we wanted, but, but you know, three miles when you're planning, it doesn't seem like much until you're in it.
Van Troubles on the Journey
00:12:32
Speaker
Okay. So let's start talking. Yeah. Three miles isn't much till you've already gone nine miles and then you got three more and it's not what you thought it was. be Right. Okay. So let's talk about just the journey down there. We ended up renting a car. Um,
00:12:46
Speaker
Oh, Jack. Yeah, so Nate comes and go get the van. Immediately, we know there's issues with this van. So Nathan, what happened to the van? Or was it Todd? No, it was Todd. Yeah, I'm sorry, it was Todd. Todd was pretty stoked that he got a great deal in a van. But come to find out, that great deal bit us in the butt. There was a reason. Yeah.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah. i So I rented a van, um a minivan for us. We kind of wanted, you know, we kind of talked, we wanted room, we wanted comfort. Nothing luxury smells masculinity than a minivan. or or do this Because this is like what, a 22 hour drive? Yeah. yeah yeah Like 19 and a half, I think. And yeah um yeah which way? And you know, the listeners right now are like, why the heck would you ever drive the van? And here's the reason why just before you get into this is because we thought if we, if we flew, we had all of our stuff in our backpack. Like we, we bought it all and it's not an easy hike and it's, it's something you have to plan for. So if our luggage got lost in the air, we're hosed. I also didn't want to really rent it anywhere either. I just didn't want to deal with that. So that was the reason why we were like, we got to drive. It'll be fun. We'll be fine. Okay. Sorry.
00:13:53
Speaker
Yeah, no, all good. um So yeah, the van experience. The night we picked it up, Phillip dropped me off. um we We had a plan to meet at the rental agency at 4.30. He picked me up. We drove over there here in Ankeny.
00:14:08
Speaker
got to the rental agency got out of the car go to walk in the station and there's a sign on the door that says ah sorry for the inconvenience we're closed shortage of staffing this location is not open any longer red flag number one who red flag Number one, the old Escalante. Yeah, so I call this number and the guy's like, yeah, you need to, you know, we're in Urbandale. You need to come get, you know, you're gonna, if you want a car, you're gonna have to come here. And I was like, okay, well, yeah, we need a car for sure. Why? It would have been nice if somebody could have called me and told me this, you know, the night before, so we could have planned. This is 4.30, they close at five. So I'm like, Phillip, what do you want to do? He's like, well, we don't have an option. We have to go get this car. So he, we jump in his car, travel to Urbandale, I get halfway there.
00:14:53
Speaker
got another phone call from them and said, hey, are you on your way? We close in 10 minutes. I'm like, yeah, I'm on my way. It's a half hour drive from Ankeny to get to Urbandale where you're at.
00:15:05
Speaker
And, you know, I just, I had mentioned, I'd just spoken to somebody and hopefully they understand and they filled this, you know, you in on what's going on because it's, I mean, this isn't my issue. This is more of like a, ah you know, it just just a bad experience, I guess, for us to start. But then, so I get the van, everything was fine. They they treated me great. Get home that night.
00:15:26
Speaker
Pull in the driveway, try to lock the van, doesn't lock. Try to open the back door. I couldn't, the lever wouldn't open the back door. Wasn't there like a service engine light when you picked it up? There was a, yeah, so the, it said like, what did it say? Key fob not detected or something like that. It was something to do with it. I thought there was like a service light too that you had asked them about. Yeah, it was a Czech oil. Oh, yes. So that's when I very first picked up the car. Right. The oil, the flight was on that said that was past due like 4800 miles past due. So I did, I drove it up to the front door and I said, Hey, just so you know, the service lights on that, you know, this is way past due for an oil change. And the guy says, Well, it's okay. It just didn't get reset. Red flag number two. Yeah. So anyway, so like, like I said, I got home, I couldn't get it locked. I told my wife, I said to her, I was like, Oh, this isn't like, I've been through that with my key fobs, just usually battery's dead or something. But I knew like, it wasn't necessarily that on this particular vehicle. But next morning I get up, have we have intentions of picking fill up up and then driving over and picking up Barton Nate. I couldn't get the van door unlocked.
00:16:37
Speaker
I couldn't get the van started. They didn't get out of my driveway to get them. So finally I did and I you know i didn't shut it off, went and picked them up. um And I'm going to try to make this quick because we could go on and on just with these. ba but Anyways, on the way down there then, so I picked them up. we're on our we're on the We start our trek. We get to Omaha.
00:16:57
Speaker
We're like, we probably needed to get a different van because we had stopped for breakfast and we, or no, we stopped for gas. Okay. Okay. And we couldn't, it wouldn't necessarily register. Just, you could just tell it. It says key fob wasn't registering. Key fob not detected. Right. So we stopped in Omaha. Um, no, Lincoln.
00:17:12
Speaker
That's right. The reason why we stopped is because we all wanted to drive. We had to go give them our driver's license and you know the Hertz guy was like, hey, just go to any Hertz place and just give him your driver's license. It'll be 15 minutes, $13. And I will say the car rental company, which fell blue to Hertz, has a new meaning to us. all point Yeah, I kind of had forgotten about that. So that the gentleman we spoke to, was he was he was great. um But he just mentioned that. I was like, hey, I need to add the three guys. I don't really want to drive 19 and a half hours each way. On the way home, now you know we were all kind of worried about being tired anyways. And he's like, well, just stop at any Hertz location. You can add them to the 12 bucks a person. Turns out that wasn't necessarily the case. We just dealt with a little bit of adversity there. but So we stopped at Lincoln, stopped at a Hertz location.
00:17:59
Speaker
All four of us walked in. Well, hold on. So we stopped to eat breakfast. After. That was after? Yeah, we went to Hertz first. She changed the battery and then we went. All right. I'm just having flashbacks. PTSD. Yeah. So we stopped at Hertz. We're like, hey, can we potentially switch out this van? Can you give us maybe a different, you know, some batteries for the key fob? She switched out the batteries for us. She's like, I got bad news. Unfortunately,
00:18:28
Speaker
Um, they aren't a, but they're independent. yeah They're not part of their corporate structure because after the bankruptcy, the majority of hurts all went independent. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, yeah, we got our van from a corporate hurts.
00:18:45
Speaker
So we can only go to corporate Hertz, which there are very limited amounts of those in the entire country. And their systems don't really talk to each other. Yeah, at all. And when you head west from Des Moines, there's like one city between here and Denver. there's Right, that's a true statement. yeah So anyway, she's like, I got bad news. Your next, the closest location you're probably going to be able to do something or even talk to somebody is Denver. So we're like, well, that's like what, six hours, eight hours probably from Lincoln to Denver. right So anyway, so then we kind of said, all right,
00:19:14
Speaker
Where can we go to breakfast at? So she referred us, or her and a few really nice older gentlemen in the location there. It said there's ah a diner, a small town diner just up the road. Which is our jam. Which is our jam. Magic bread. Magic toast. toas Yes. Magic toast. Whoever that is, the people who are listening to brass are like, oh, we know that place. Oh, yeah. We didn't. yeah So we stopped. And we do have a conversation about it. We're like, listen, what do we do here? Do we lock the car? Because we have everything that we need for the next week in the car.
00:19:44
Speaker
or do we unlock it and just keep it locked and go in because we're not really confident on the key fob situation right. Yeah so we locked it because of all of our contents of stuff in there. um Todd and Phil made the executive decision to lock it.
00:20:01
Speaker
Nate and Bart were inside getting ready for some magic toast. Which, that's true. All right, so we flash forward, breakfast is good. We come out, hit us, hit us with it. We come out and guess what, folks? The van would not unlock. We could not get in, we couldn't get it to like literally make a noise, anything. So we were literally locked out. So we got on the horn with Hertz, we happened to know somebody, we got on the phone with them.
00:20:29
Speaker
I bet we stood there for a good half hour, 20 minutes to a half hour. Oh no, at least a half an hour. Yeah, at least. I mean, we're tearing apart the key fob. We're doing everything we can. And we get to the point where they're suggesting we sit there and wait for somebody to come get us. Right.
00:20:45
Speaker
And unbeknownst to us, Phil is around the corner, literally beating the crap out of this key fob. Well, the the key fob didn't have the... Well, like let's talk about that because they're gonna be like, why don't you just pull out the key thing? Oh, that's right. It had a dummy. It had a dummy. It was completely blank. Yeah. You couldn't even unlock the key yeah through the fob that, you know, the hidden key in it. None of that. used for chauffeur and yeah So then I prefer to, then I just like, just start beating that thing. Cause like, what else are you going to do? Yeah. And beats it into submission and it starts working. And it works. So the van started and from there, like I said, our, our, we decided we're not turning this thing off and we didn't. We shilled it up with gas while it was on. Yeah. Not recommended. I mean, playing on the edge. Yeah, we did. But anyway, then so I want, cause I want to get into Escalante and that that's really the red flag number three. Yes. Three. But.
00:21:36
Speaker
So we get to Denver and we're like, okay, we got directions to the airport. That's where we knew we could exchange vehicles. We get there. No, it starts to overheat. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We had to fill it with gas for one, which we all kind of said we shouldn't have to fill this with gas based on our experience, but we did because we're four gentlemen.
00:21:56
Speaker
First time I've been called that, I'll take it. ah So we fill it with gas and the airport from the the new car location is maybe a block, um the airport gas station where we had to turn this thing in. We fill it with gas and literally as we pulled into the gas station, the check engine light comes on that the the motor is overheating. Yeah. ah so That was, you know know, so we got gas. We literally said, okay, we have to go a block. It has to get us a block. It did. We get there. Nate and I went in, got a new van, which was a very, very nice van, brand new Toyota Sienna. It was fantastic. I come back out. Everything went very smoothly. They're like, hey, we just looked up your car. You have a rock chip in it. um and like No, I don't. ah Try it again. yeah yeah they're like Yeah, you do. And I was like, Okay, just send us on our way. We want to get going. We've already wasted like, you know, we spent 45 minutes of our time just trying to get into this thing to get to this point. And we have a long ways to go. We filled it up with gas for you. I'll deal with that later. So you know, from there, I would say it was kind of smooth sailing. Yeah, yeah, we had a good time after that. Yeah, but the first
00:23:04
Speaker
Four hours of our, it was just, I mean, literally adversity at its finest. Oh man. Getting started. Three pretty red flags just before we got there. Yeah, for sure. So we finally get to Grand Junction, Colorado. Yes. We find a hotel just to crash. We crash there for the night. We fly, then we drive the rest of the way and then we don't start our hike. We ended up staying in, what was the... We stay in... Scottsdale? Flagstaff. Yep. Flagstaff for the the night. We ended up having pizza, which is the longest experience we've ever had. for now pizza That's right. But it was good pizza. But and then we get our stuff packed up. So I want to talk about how you pack up your bag.
00:23:47
Speaker
because now we are, we're almost go time. Do you want to talk about how not to pack up your bag? Yeah, yeah maybe. We're the max for now. Dude, REI will sell you everything that you can. okay Oh, for sure. But the name of the game is weight. Weight and then efficiency, I think. So we're all in our hotel trying to pack up. And you know some things are like, we won't need that anymore. like We thought we might need that. We didn't.
00:24:10
Speaker
and Unbeknownst to us, it was pretty hot the week before we hiked. In fact, we were getting all these red flags of like, hey, it's going to get hot. Yeah, it was like 100 degrees down at the at the bottom of the canyon. Yeah. Right. So for those of you who are thinking about doing this, on the top of the the canyon is about 20 degrees cooler than the bottom of the canyon. An estimating, so you know. But so if it's 70 degrees at the top, it's 90 degrees at the bottom. Interesting to know.
00:24:39
Speaker
and That's something I want to talk about as we kind of progress or a little bit in further into the podcast here is just the weather, our preparation and how, I don't know if you could have done it based on the forecasts we had leading up to it. So we'll kind of get into that story and how the weather, the weather turned for the better for us about two or three days before we jump in there. So now it's like probably 80 degrees at the bottom 60 up top. Wouldn't you agree? Cause when we, yeah, the only problem was the, how cool it was going to get at night. Yes. So I literally went from thinking I was just going to pack a couple pairs of clothes to now having to pack for really cold nights and mid weather during
Preparing for the Hike
00:25:20
Speaker
the day. So now I'm packing like literally twice as many clothes. Right. Yeah. I would say when we started, we got out of the van, we got to our trailhead. It was cold. Like we're throwing on puffy jackets, stocking caps. I'm guessing it was probably in thirties or 40 degrees. wind I mean, it it was cold. So.
00:25:37
Speaker
Yeah, I guess one thing I forgot to mention, like leading up to that trip, like literally three to four weeks leading up to that, we were getting emails yeah from the National Park Service warning us that you can't hike, or it's not recommended between 10 and four, and that's kind of where I was going with it. Because of the heat. Because of the heat. right I mean, it was extreme. Right. So we had in our head, like grab your headlamps, which we had, and then we were going to hike early morning, late at night. That was kind of what we're going to do, but luckily it changed. So we get out of our van and now it's fricking freezing, but we get to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. And it's, it's just unbelievable. It's um unbelievable. yeah You can't really put into words.
00:26:16
Speaker
that you know how you feel when you see it for the first time like picture obviously do not do it justice people that have been there know just how awe-inspiring it is to realize God made something so just huge and magnificent and how we're just like tiny specs and all this totally um and i felt like a tiny spec the entire time i'm not gonna lie yeah like it was It's pretty crazy. Yeah. And so it also is interesting at the top of the mountain or top of the canyon, looking down, knowing like that's where we're going. Like there is ah another level of like just seeing it, but then also going to do it. And this was the first time I ever seen the Grand Canyon. Was it everybody's first time? Yeah.
00:26:58
Speaker
I'd seen it one other time in like junior high. OK. But for the most part, this is our first time. Yeah, I didn't see it the way we saw it. Yeah, i think that's where I think you know you you see pictures of it yeah growing up and in magazines or whatever. but it's so it you i We're not even doing it just now to try to explain that. Well, when you're standing up top, you're only seeing a portion of the hundreds of miles of Canyon. And you're not even seeing all the way down because there's so many layers yeah of Canyon. Right. And you're like, we're going down there somewhere. And we have 12 miles to go today. And it's about six thirty, which is in the morning. We got there. We got there six thirty. I think my star hike at seven. OK, seven. i Right. Yeah, I think I think ah first light was six thirty, about seven. We were on the trail.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah, okay. Todd fell down about 715. Okay, so let's just talk about it. We start going and it's it's a it's a drop. Like I'll say that you- So I think the first, I might get this wrong, I think the first mile out is a mile down. Yeah. So you're at a 45 degree slope and it's all switchbacks yep for a straight mile.
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah, and it is it's s gnarly and it's rocky. It's not like a paved trail yeah dirt trail It's your boulder. I kid you not yeah like 15 minutes in we hear something behind us going down. It's Todd Hoffman it tonhoff It was me and I had a so I don't know what happens These three were in front of me and I just I literally still can't picture like I'm on my foot got caught up or my pole got caught up there was a rock I meant to step over and I thought I did but I might I think my pole got caught up but it literally bent my pole yeah a pretty significant angle right for the entire trip yeah so for you to just hear like we all have about 45 if not 50 pound backpacks on we all have our hiking poles and going down this gnarly incline
00:28:58
Speaker
Yeah, and for anybody listening that's an experienced hiker. so like We would not be. Not us. It's fairly evident if you haven't figured that out. My brother has a guy that works for him that is an experienced hiker. So my brother's telling him the story after I've told him we've been back.
00:29:17
Speaker
My brother's telling him that we're like 45, 50 pounds packed out. This guy's like, oh no, no, no. Like I'm typically 32 to 33 pounds with full water. Oh my. That right there was like, okay. Good to know. We did it wrong.
00:29:34
Speaker
and Out of all of us, who do you think had the heaviest pack? Either me or Todd. I think Todd. Yeah. I think Todd. They were pretty close. They were close when we picked them up. I mean, to borrow what you just said, I mean, it couldn't be more true. And that's you know that's something that I took away from that trip is just that we'll probably get into that here. But just the planning and the over preparation and the adversity and stuff that we dealt with that we'll talk about here. right you just You can't prepare for some of that stuff. But I just over prepared. and I can probably speak for all of you this in some of the areas that you don't need. We just don't know you don't know you don't know right and I think you know because you're packed so heavy You're putting a ton of reliance on your hiking poles Just to try to take some of the ah you know weight and pressure off of your back off your legs So you're using your hiking poles pretty significantly so when Todd says he went down and been his hiking pole We're all like
00:30:25
Speaker
Um this guy might be he he's gonna have some trouble. Yeah, that could be it. That could be it. Right. Yeah. I mean, I good fortune. I probably fell where I did. I mean, it wasn't. Yeah. Super. Right. You know, you fell on the path. I fell on the path. I ripped a hole in my pants. Um bent my pole. That's really it. I felt fine. Right. And you know, I didn't I I think it was I just.
00:30:43
Speaker
We missed out. So we bent your pullback, but I would say... No, we didn't. We were going to. Oh, we didn't? And he's like, let me just try it, which is probably good, because I'm afraid if we would have bent it back, it may have snapped it. I could have seen that, for sure.
00:30:59
Speaker
But i you know I think, so like Philip said earlier, Nate, I think it was you that said, so our first day was 12 miles down there, I think 7,800 feet of elevation yeah down.
Challenges on the Trail
00:31:08
Speaker
ye And I think, Nate, you said, what is it? The 12 miles is like how a crow flies. It's not your zigzag. Is that right? Right. I i don't know. I don't know. No, it might not be that. It might be the actual trail. but I think it's the actual trail. It felt like 40 miles.
00:31:23
Speaker
Yeah, and like you just feel so small. Like you'll be walking for at least 30 minutes and you'll look up and you're like, we have to go where? Like you don't feel like you're going anywhere. I mean, I felt like we were, we were humping. Like, I mean, we were getting after it and I think we averaged like 1.3 mile an hour. That's right. If that tells anybody anything of, right I mean, we're, we're four fairly fit guys. We can move 1.3 mile an hour is like our average speed is what we're doing at this point. Yeah. Yeah. I remember several times just, we were, you know, we got to talking and how's everybody doing? And then somebody would say, we just, we went like 1.3 miles and you felt like you, I felt like you were on the three hours. Yeah. Yeah. Right.
00:32:08
Speaker
So and it's not that, it's not that well marked the whole trail. So we get lost once. Twice. Twice. Okay. Twice. And luckily we had your, what's the app that we downloaded? Cause I was like, shout out to that. Yeah. Guy app. So I've got a subscription to that, which allows you to download your, yeah. I mean, you have to go online, mark your trail, allows you to download it. We would still be in the canyon with yeah right now. True story. yeah After getting lost a couple times and realizing how easy it is to get lost because the trail is not really a trail. There's a lot of navigation that you have to do and how just like one little misstep could send you
00:32:45
Speaker
So let's talk about that because you don't go to the Grand Canyon without having some way to communicate out. And we had one, everybody that goes to the back country, I shouldn't say everybody, should have at least ah one satellite phone per party. It should be a requirement, honestly. Yeah, I don't know. It might be. It sounds like it should. but And Nate, you had that for us. You had our satellite phone. um Looking back, we probably should have two.
00:33:07
Speaker
Honestly, just in case like, let's say Nathan who has the phone attached to him does fall. Like how are we going to get that? You know, yeah so looking back, that was one thing I probably would have done a little different. Um, but then we just, we hike, we hike, we hike, we hike. And I mean, it's gnarly. It's gnarly. We're getting lost. Yeah. That downhill, uh, descent, you can't really train for that very well. Right. And Iowa, you sure can't. Yeah. And you, you know, the tips of your toes are just hitting the front of your shoe box the whole day. Slamming. And every time it's sharp pain and you're just like, dear Lord, this, this is killer. I don't know if I can keep going or what my toes are going to look like the next day. And it just kept going and going and going. Not only that, but just the, the trails we were on were so gnarly and the way yeah they switched back down the whole way. And so you're you're not only down like walking the significant angle down, but we were right like dealing with some huge boulders and like, right.
00:34:02
Speaker
rocks and trees and stuff that you're scoping or scaling with the backpack on and you're laying on your side trying to find the trail again. Yeah, that's right. yeah And you get to a point where you're like, I don't see the trail. No, there's like three options I could go right, right. And I mean, we eventually learned a they stack three rocks. Yeah, throughout. If you look for those rocks, it's kind of like your navigation or true north. Right. um But yeah, it took us a few times if you lost I don't know, probably some tempers were starting to bubble up a little bit. Oh yeah, you don't want to get lost, because then it's just more walking. Yeah. So we kind of made a rule, like if we ever have a question, we'll look at the app, the guy app. OK, here's my question. I'm going to pull back here. Everybody got a journal beforehand. We all answered the same question. Here's my question to you. What were you looking forward to the most about our trip? I had two things. One was just I'm a goal-oriented person, so the challenge
00:35:01
Speaker
meeting that goal and coming out. And I would say, well, I don't know spoilers there. So that was number one. Yep. Number two was just bonding with you guys. So, you know, the, the time we'd have once we hit camp, set up having that guy time going through our journals. Yes. Yes. Again, no spoiler alerts, but those were kind of the two things I was looking forward to. Right. I like it.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say um even the preparation, like when you do something challenging, it takes preparation. So you know we would prep even together for months ahead of time that the camaraderie, that bonding starts way before. yeah um So that was one thing. um I like challenges because whether they're challenges that you bring on yourself or the challenges that God introduces in your life, when you make it through, you're refined. Yeah. If, if, if, yeah, if you know, you, you know, are processing and character the right way. And so that helps you to navigate certain things in life. And this was one challenge of like, Hey, it's going to take training preparation. And because of that training preparation, when I get through with it, I'm going to say, yeah, we did it so much. Yeah. Yeah. More satisfying.
00:36:12
Speaker
And you add? For me, yeah, I'm similar to Bart. I mean, I, like I said, I, I know these guys, I respect these guys. I love these guys. Um, but I still wanted that. I guess for me, it was more of that, that next step in our spiritual growth. Yeah. So that's yeah kind of what I wanted. So Phillip gave us all a book, had a series of questions. We didn't even come remotely close to having finding two seconds to go through that book and just kind of get to know each other on that, you know, taking our relationship to the next level. That being said.
00:36:38
Speaker
I feel like I know you way better now than I ever did without going through any of those. Okay, so here's what I want. I want to write down. I'm going to read what I wrote, okay? Because we haven't gone through these. No, we haven't. So, no spoiler, but something happened. Okay, what are you looking forward to the most about the Scrant Canyon trip? Being with Bart, Nathan, and Todd. Being challenged and problem solving with people I respect.
00:36:59
Speaker
Check, check. Seeing how big God is and how small I am. Double check. Yes. Yep. And witnessing how beautiful God's creation is. And then the last thing, ready for this? Sounds weird, but I'm looking forward to the unexpected. Things that don't go according to plan and how we all unify together, accomplish a goal. And I was like, yeah. yeah it made je afterward I was like, was it me? Was I the one who botched this whole thing? and Yes. Yes.
00:37:28
Speaker
card Okay. So we, so I want to just kind of give a high level of, can I go back to your point there though? Because I think anytime you do a challenge that you have not done before that you're unfamiliar with, you have to have that mentality of, Hey, bring on the unexpected. I'm going to train for what I think I know, but I'm going to see if my training is good enough to where if I get veered one way or another, I can come through 100%.
00:37:51
Speaker
um And so the Escalante route in and of itself, it was 32 miles that we were gonna do. We were gonna try to hike it in four days and three nights. We all decided you like together that we all wanted to be self-sufficient. Bart had all his stuff. I had all my stuff. Nathan and Todd, same. So we were all ready to go with our own packs.
00:38:14
Speaker
So as we're as we're going, the first thing that kind of happens is it starts to rain. It starts to kind of drizzle, I would say. yeah And luckily, Todd had the hunchback of Notre Dame ah poncho, the most amazing poncho I've ever seen. He had that, and it was great. I had this like $0.99 one. It could fit over the whole Grand Canyon. It was like a parachute, went over his backpack and everything. and Honestly, like I looked at it, I was like, man, that's actually really nice. like it was It was pretty nice. We all got our rain gear on and we hiked through. um And we got through it, right? like It was just one of those things. Actually, that was probably the first point for me, though, to where...
00:38:51
Speaker
Like I realized like, holy cow, we have not went very far. Yeah, right. And I felt like we'd been right on the trail for quite some time. Yeah, yeah and that was three miles. Yeah, three miles. Yeah. Okay. I think you're right. Because we were going about a mile an hour. And we know somewhere down there along the Colorado, we are stopping and we're no not real far into the trek. You can start seeing the Colorado in the distance, but you have no idea really how far the Colorado River is. i think seven miles in you can it plays how you saw river Yeah, yeah right so we're just by ourselves us four we haven't seen much we might have saw one or two But we could hear people in front of us remember that yes And we couldn't catch up to them like there would always be something that like we would get lost that we would get but we couldn't like and they they were a bigger group like we should have been able to
00:39:39
Speaker
to get them. And we're all pretty competitive so that was kind of what we were doing. And so we get to the point where we have to, we stop for lunch. Remember this? Yeah. Air quotes lunch. Yeah. Very pseudo lunch. Beef jerky and granola bars. And it actually stopped raining at that point too. Yeah. So we got our rain gear away and and then we, oh, we did meet the the group that we were following there. Yep. And then they took off and then we kind of just stayed there relaxed. We had some food.
00:40:08
Speaker
And then we started taking off. We passed them pretty quickly after that. That where we had lunch was a halfway point. And I also recall, you know, sitting there thinking, I feel like we've been here forever. Yes. On this day, and then we decided from there, I think where you're going, Phil, is that we have to get scooting. Yeah, we got it based on our time. I think that's why because Start out with, each of us had one muffin for breakfast. Yes. With the intent that we were going to stop for lunch, get our jet boils out, make a good lunch, yep and then camp will do the same thing you know when we get there.
00:40:41
Speaker
Well, to your point, Todd, we start realizing like, we need to make, this trail is way narrower than we thought it was gonna be. We cannot be hiking in the dark, yeah which down there in Arizona, it is now sunset at 5.30. Yeah, right, right. so And in the canyon, so sunset, you're not really seeing the sun. Yeah, i like so we've got a bucket, so we kind of forgo lunch. We eat beef jerky and a few little snacks and we get back on the trail.
00:41:10
Speaker
I remember having one thought there, and I was like, I love this place, this is beautiful, I'm grateful I'm never gonna see this spot again. okay That's what I remember having. so on We saw it all right. We did. But like, so I wanna say, if that was that was like five, I think that was halfway to the Tanner Beach. That was the first beach. That would have been like four and a half miles in. That's right. So I think like a half mile before that is when I started noticing like my knee was not,
00:41:36
Speaker
feeling very good. Okay. And I think sometime before that was when you're, Todd, your back really started to let go on. Yeah. From you'd had back issues before. Yeah. I mean, it's a lead into more of the story too. You had back issues before, but the fall like 15 minutes in didn't help exacerbated that a little bit. Yeah. I don't, I don't know for sure. I can't say for sure if it did. Like I said, I'm right the fall.
00:41:59
Speaker
is It went as well as I think I could. I agree, my good for sure. Yeah, right. Yeah, because if you fall on that, like, but we're probably 15 pounds heavy. Oh, for sure. You know that I know. Yeah. Oh, good to know. Yeah. oh So we we ended up getting down to Tanner Beach. Tanner Beach is the place where it was recommended that you stop and you camp for the first night.
00:42:21
Speaker
Now that we've done it, I would agree. yeah with That would be the place, beautiful, great places. um But when Nathan and I were scheduling this thing, you have to try to figure out where you're gonna stop. And there's many places on this route, and Tanner Beach was full. Everybody was full, so we couldn't stay. that you Not a sign of life anywhere. Right, full. Yeah, right. Like you couldn't see anybody, but from our itinerary, which I think people follow. Yeah, I think they were behind us though. So they would have gotten there eventually. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, because we passed a large group. But like it's a Grand Canyon, I think we could have found a place to stay.
00:42:55
Speaker
You know what I'm saying? So, and I don't know how strict they are, but we were going to follow it to the tee. So we still have three miles left of those, those three miles. It didn't look like anything when we were scheduling it are now like i two hours of sunlight left. Yes, that's exactly good. Good point. So we were like, we got to go. So we start clipping, but we also like looking on the map, the trail looks like it follows the river. Yes. So we're thinking, okay, the next three miles is fairly flat. I mean, we're smoked at this point. So we're thinking, all right, we'll hump this three miles. It's not going to be a big deal. It's going to be fairly flat.
00:43:30
Speaker
Holy smokes were we wrong. Actually, we talked, all of us talked about that on the way down there. You know, hey, we just have to get down to the last three miles and slash. Which is probably not something we do. Don't get your hopes up from Escalante. It'll do your dirty. Yeah, for sure. So we go, and I'm telling you guys, this hike, the three miles from Tanner Beach to, where are we going? What was the other one? I don't know how. What did I call it? Cardenas. Cardenas. Cardenas. Yeah, beach. Can we agree that was probably the worst three miles for all of us? The worst three miles. That day? No, just the whole three miles. Three miles was the hardest, I felt like. Still even looking back on it, that last three miles was horrible. Yeah, it was terrible. I don't know. Worst part of experience. I think the last day.
00:44:18
Speaker
When we left camp, we'll get to it, but that climb back up was not really us. It was bad, but what I would say about the three miles to go to Tanner Beach to Gurniness, it was one of those things where I felt like it was deja vu. It was the same thing over and over. So true. And it was just a mental... And you didn't know really how far you had to go. Right. And so when you think you're making progress, you do a switch back and it looks like it's taken you away from where you think you're going.
00:44:45
Speaker
What are we doing? Yes. Yeah. How much further is it? Well, and I think part of it, you couldn't, we couldn't see the beauty of the river because that's right. Brought you off the river, right? You know, to the South and then you weren't really like the Canyon views to the lab to our left weren't.
00:45:00
Speaker
All right, so we're we're making this longer than it needs to be, but I just want you to paint the picture. We get to our place. Guess what happens five minutes before we get to our place to be able to set up camp. Downpour rains. Let me just cut to the chase. Downpour rains. And it's dark at this point. Dark and cold. Right when it's dark. And we got to be really honest that the last time that I set up my tent was in my living room. Okay. The theme of our trip. Yeah, really. Yes. And the last time it probably rained in gar Grand Canyon was not, I mean, it was just, it didn't, it hadn't happened for a while. Now it's cold and the sun's setting. It's starting to get dark. So it's kind of like, okay, this is kind of getting serious and we've got to get our tents up because we got to get out of this rain.
00:45:39
Speaker
and that's where it started so i want to just paint the picture for the people listening guess what time it was if you're listening you probably figured out it was five thirty and now it's raining down pouring and we are all wet we have our own stuff we're trying to get our tent out haven't eaten haven't eaten that's exactly right and we just have to get out of the rain So we all are trying to figure out like our own tents, which is not easy. Well, and you risk hypothermia too, cause it's gonna drop into the forties. You're soaking wet. Yeah. Right. There's no way to dry off. yeah Upper thirties, low forties. Every night we were down there. Right. So Nate has a ah nice tent.
00:46:21
Speaker
Bart has a really nice tent. Todd has a really nice tent. Bart had the same tent. Yeah, you have the two-person tent, which is brilliant, by the way, because then you can put all your backpack stuff in it. You can kind of have a little place. Philip doesn't. ah Philip has a tent that I wasn't thinking it was going to be very I didn't think it was going to be much because I didn't think we needed much. I thought it was going to be super hot. So I just got this one that was light. The only structure my tent has with one of my hiking poles in the middle of it. So it was, it was really like a tee looking tent. It was horrible. So I'm trying to get this thing up and I'm like, I have made a grave mistake here. Like, and, and honestly, like you, you laugh about it now, but like at the moment I'm like, this is kind of getting dicey because the hypothermia, not laughing after.
00:47:05
Speaker
kind of the second our second night right experience. And this is right this is the place where like you start realizing how alone you are. like There's no one coming to get you. Now it's dark, so there's really no help for another 13 hours. Yeah, and the problem with the tank the camp setup is it was like every man for themselves. It's dark, it's raining, yeah your gear is outside getting wet, it's get your tent up, yeah and which is kind of one of the downfalls to, hey,
00:47:31
Speaker
you do you yeah instead. And so we're all kind of busy with our own thing, not realizing the situation that Phil's encountering right now. yeah so I'll just say that I finally got the tent up and I like threw myself in it, but at that point my tent had water in it. I had my shoes on, my tent is getting muddy, I'm laying in water and I'm just grateful I'm out of the wet. But I'm soaking wet and all of a sudden I start shivering and I'm like, oh boy, we got ourselves a situation here. I was like, I got to get in my backpack, which is outside of my tent, because I only have a one person tent, like a tiny little itty bitty one person tent.
00:48:06
Speaker
I got to get this stuff out. So I get my air mattress out. Praise the Lord, because I've never blew that thing up trying to figure out how to do it. It's pitch black. I blow it up. I cut it in two and I lay on it and I'm like, OK, we got a shot because I'm just out of the water or at least my upper torso is out of the water.
00:48:22
Speaker
my legs and my feet are in water like truly in water and the top of the tent and the bottom of my tent are touching so like i don't know how to like the only place that isn't up is just underneath my hiking pole and like my torso the rest is like in water and it's raining Um, so at that point I was like, I got to get these like soaking wet clothes off, but like psychologically, like I was like this, I don't want to do that because I'm going to get colder before I get warmer. And finally, I don't know. I just guys was, I have to do it. Like I'm shivering too much. So I get off my coat, get on my clothes and they're, they're tight. And like my whole body is like on the tent now. Like little two, I don't know, like my little hiking stick is getting knocked over. Like it's, it's a bad situation. And none of us know this is happening because to Nate's point.
00:49:10
Speaker
We're all wet, freezing, we're trying to get, because our tents were all wet and inside too, because right you've got that 360 mesh before you go. We're all dealing with our own demons. We did, but like we said on day two, like had we known you were having that much trouble, you could have come into yeah one of our tents or one of us would have come out and helped. 100%, and they've asked me, like it wasn't just like Phillips out there free for all. You guys ask me, how are you doing? And I'm like, I didn't know any anything else, it's just like, I'm fine. you know like I don't even know. I think that was your exact response. Yeah, I'm fine. stream that Phil was wet. yeah are we are you know We were just from setting up. He was. And so I never took my shoes off, never took my shoes off and finally grabbed like a, like a hoodie. And I had, that was my blanket and I didn't get my sleeping bag out because I knew how wet it was going to get. And I was not going to take my shoes off. So I think I probably.
00:49:58
Speaker
slept maybe fifth, 10 minutes at most. And this was the part where like, I think was the hardest because not only was it physically hard and meant like it like emotionally and mentally, it was like, it was kicking all of our butts and we never had a chance to like look at each other in the eyes and be like, I'm not doing great. Like, no, we were all in our tents while it was raining on us. All like not talking much, just and not sleeping. I don't think you guys slept much. No, no, go down. It's probably,
00:50:29
Speaker
the worst night, the worst two nights of sleep I've ever had in my life. Yes, right, right. Yeah, it's so lonely. Like I remember laying there and I was doing physically, I was doing pretty well. I mean, I was tired and everything and and got the tent set up, but I'm laying there, you know, you're at the bottom of the canyon. It's pitch black, it's raining, it's quiet, and you feel alone. You're like,
00:50:49
Speaker
I don't want to be here. Yeah, right. And then so the mental, emotional games, one of the things I was super excited about is just like, look at the stars in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, how dark it was. yeah You guys news flash, we never saw one star in the Grand Canyon. Not one because it was always raining. No wildlife and no stars. Yeah. How does that happen? So we get through the night like truly and I i kid you not, I'm so grateful. Like there was a point where I was like, this is not going to go well and I don't know what else to do. Um, luckily we got through it. So the first like glimpse of sun comes up and I'm out of my tent because really what is my tent? It's like a plastic bag. Yeah. I was out pretty much the whole night you were out of your chair. Yeah. So I get out and then Bart gets out and then what what happened Bart? Well, yeah. So, well, let's talk about each one of you. Were you guys all having that mental problem like or like just getting beat down while it was raining? At night? Yeah, at night. Oh yeah, at night for sure. But I would say even the whole trek down, I was not prepared for
00:51:49
Speaker
I mean, Nate said it multiple times. like He kept looking back at me. He's like, you know, like literally one step wrong and we're dead. Yeah. And that's not a fabrication. like That's so true. And we all, I think, slipped at least once. Oh, yeah. Not like, oh, falling off, but like at least tripped. Where if if you would have tripped in the wrong spot. You're gone. yeah You're gone. And um' I'm petrified of heights. like i can't even I can't even get up on a ladder to put lights on my house. like So every step, I couldn't even enjoy the process. Like I'm looking at my feet and trail like 10 and two the entire time and I'm not having fun. So you add that to you know halfway through, now my knee starts to lock up. And yeah and then the rain when you get down the camp. So mentally, man, it was it was kind of defeating.
00:52:39
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, of yeah. And one thing you can't prepare for, like kind of talk about, um, piggyback on your point is the mental game of every step you take is calculated because one wrong step with your foot, your trekking pole, you get your weight shifted with your pack towards the, I mean, we're literally talking to 12 inch, 18 inch trail in many places with a rock ledge, just um Drop off down. Like you die if you misstep. yeah And so that mental game really starts playing in your mind. It contributes to like the weariness that you feel. But when you're at the bottom of the canyon, there's no way out. Like it it's no one it's time for a hopeless feeling. Like there's not an exit. That's easy. Right.
00:53:23
Speaker
Right. Did you guys have dinner that night? No. I didn't either. No. I might've had a snack. I don't know. Okay. Yeah. I think I ate a snack and no. So we really hadn't had anything except for beef jerky, granola, and a muffin. That's it. And trek 12 miles and, you know, 11 hours.
00:53:40
Speaker
Yes. Cause we started at 6 30, we ended up getting down there on five 15, five 20. And then it was dark and rainy. Yeah. So you're alone. You're in your tent. You're just have your thoughts and they're not great. they're theyre Yeah. out of A lot of prayers. Like I don't know if anybody knows, but your phone doesn't work down in the canyon. no So you have literally nothing.
00:54:02
Speaker
And yeah, and it's interesting because one of the verses I was thinking about was Psalms 35, and it says, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. So when you're dealing with that night, you are I mean you are, your body is is literally weeping in in many ways, but then the morning comes, the sun comes up,
00:54:24
Speaker
You eat your first breakfast. Oh man. Mentally, emotionally, things start changing for you. Yes, except part gets out of his tent first. Well, yeah, so. And you're dealing with your knee, you're exhausted. Which the exhaustion I can handle. Yeah. I mean, that's right that's part of just kind of the suck that you endure right in something like this, which I was mentally prepared for that. Not for the the pain with my knee and, you know, not to,
00:54:51
Speaker
sound like a wuss, but it was pretty gnarly. Like i had I had a knee injury in January, went to a surgeon. I had floating cartilage in my knee. So I thought it was better. So that's why we took the the track and apparently it wasn't. So I went to bed.
00:55:11
Speaker
air coat bed. yeah yeah I popped a bunch, I had to be profing, just hold at it. In the morning I would be in a better place. And it was like 30 minutes before sun up and I was, like every time I moved in the middle of the night, like I literally had to take my arms and like move my leg with me because my knee hurt so bad.
00:55:29
Speaker
So I knew that we had 20 miles left. There was no way my knee was making it 20 miles. right Like at some point it was just gonna completely lock up and I wasn't gonna be able to move at all. Helicopter'd out of there. right I probably laid there for a good solid 45 minutes stewing over waking you guys up, which I knew you guys weren't asleep. But just having to tell you guys like I can't keep going. right so Like we've got it so yeah we've we've got to find another option.
00:55:57
Speaker
Dude, it was so hard, because like I said, I love a challenge, I love setting goals and meeting them, and I felt so defeated. Yeah, your body was like, no, no. But yeah, so you get out of your tent, you're like,
00:56:10
Speaker
boys, my knees are locked up. Like we can't keep going. Like it's just, it's, it's foolish to keep going. Yeah. And then that's when Todd was like, I'm so grateful you said that. He's like, I feel like there's a knife sticking out of my bag and being turned early. Yeah. And so we, we knew pretty quickly, like we're not going on. Like two of us are tapping out and like, that was, it was hard, right? Like, cause we all like are very, like, you knew you were a wrestler, Todd. Like that just doesn't not even, I was having trouble processing. Like what's happening here?
00:56:41
Speaker
um But when that is hard because you know Phil and I I think we felt pretty good the next morning to keep going I felt great. I was alive. Yeah, you know well Yeah, I felt rejuvenated. Yeah, way right and then you know film or Tom Bart, you know Then you guys are struggling and I think that's where our friendship comes into play, too It's like hey, we're not we're not leaving you guys, right? We're we're coming in we're coming out together. We're not splitting up so um to be able to do that shift and and I think do it well, like, all right, but's let's do this together. Yeah, there was never a moment like once I said that, that I felt like you guys were disappointed.
00:57:16
Speaker
you know I felt like you guys just said, okay, this is what we have to do. We're we're with you. And that's what we're gonna, right so we're gonna figure out what that looks like getting back out of the canyon now. I mean, we were all disappointed. I mean, you guys were disappointed. I mean, we all we're all disappointed, but I never felt like you guys just like held that over our heads the entire time or anything like that. So I think that's where that friendship piece comes in, Nate. And you guys were super supportive the whole time. I mean, the whole time coming back out of the canyon,
00:57:45
Speaker
It was always, hey, how you doing? yeah you know You need help. It was people carrying other people's stuff sometimes. Yeah, right. So let's go. So we decided we got to go back. And I don't even think, did we have breakfast then? there We did have breakfast. OK. Thankfully. So we have breakfast at Carnitas, and we start heading back. So we have that three miles of complete suck.
00:58:08
Speaker
Going back. So we get to Tanner beach and then we take a break. Like that was always part of the plan. We're just going to take this slow. We're going to take a break. we fill our Water said we, that's our yeah next water source. Let's talk about that. So purified the water. It was the last water source that we had. yeah So we knew going back up, it was going to take at least two days to get back. yeah But we have no other way to get water. yeah So you're forced with a dilemma. How much water do I care? yeah You start the hike with water in your pack. And then the only water source, because there's no drinking fountains in Grand Canyon, is the river, the the Colorado River, which that you have to filter and you have to make sure it's clean. That's the only water source through the whole Escalante route.
00:58:52
Speaker
And so when we got to carnitas, we did fill up our water. We did the whole deal. Uh, but then we knew, like you said, Nate, this is the last time that we're going to have water for the next two days, which is also mentally struggle bus. Like we don't use water just to drink. We use it to eat too. yeah Our meals require water.
00:59:11
Speaker
Right. And so we had to kind of ration our water. Okay. But we got to, okay. So that was like, that was at least the thought we were going to get water. That's why we stopped. We were just going to replenish because we knew the next two days, that's all we get. And then Todd was like, Todd, I'll let you do the rest.
00:59:28
Speaker
what We're at Tanner Beach now on our way back. Todd's blocked it out. We're getting water. Blacked out. We're taking a short break. Yeah. Todd, Bart's cracking your back. we Yes. we So we got down there. And like I said, my I literally.
00:59:43
Speaker
felt like I had a knife or I got shot in the back. like yeah And then it like just I can't really describe it, like just sharp shooting things everywhere around it. I threw my left shoulder blade. And so, you know, I obviously, I would be the first to admit, I just overprepared in terms of my backpack and the weight. We've talked about that. I just, I had too much. So that, you know, leading into that, that didn't help my situation. and I was i kind of similar to Bart, without going into a long story. I was, you know, I was going to chiropractor a few weeks leading up to the trip to where I was,
01:00:12
Speaker
I never really guessed, second guessed, making the trip or going. Like I felt good. I was in a good place.
Debating the Journey Forward
01:00:19
Speaker
I kind of had in my mind that it might be a problem just carrying that much weight downhill, uphill, around, you know, switchbacks. Well, it got me. And then when we got to Tanner Beach, where you guys just mentioned that, you know, so the the second day to start our trek back up three miles in, I wanted to give up. I did. yeah My back hurt so bad where I was just like, guys, I i don't know if I can make it. And then, um,
01:00:42
Speaker
You know, from there, we talked about like, well, there's not really an option. You have two options, either get helicopter out or we have to suck it up and go. And, you know, from there, we were like, I was ready to, you know, one, we're all, you can't just drop stuff and leave stuff down there. I mean, the the park is.
01:01:00
Speaker
They want you to take a poop and then take your toilet paper out with you. Yeah. So I mean, it's it's beautiful. Like you big deal you you would not see any piece of trash, anything on the trail the whole time you were there. it's at The park is absolutely beautiful, magnificent. um So it's not like I could just, you know, we could make a decision. Just just drop your half your contents. You're very cool. yeah no Nate sent an SOS. Wait, let's, let's, whoa, whoa, whoa.
01:01:24
Speaker
Let's go back. So because before the trip, because we were all really worried about the heat, we all got an article that was circulating around us. Do you remember that? And it was talking about the things that you can do in order to make sure you don't overheat on a hike. Remember that?
01:01:38
Speaker
In part of that was stating that you have to be very honest with the team that you're hiking with, because even if your cavity starts hurting, you need to tell them because it it escalates quickly. And there is no like, well, I'm going to just call somebody quick. Like that's not how it works.
01:01:56
Speaker
And so we all got that email or that that article and in the article stated this and I'm not sure if this is actually true or not, but it stated if you ever needed to get helicopter out for any reason and they were talking about more dehydration.
01:02:09
Speaker
um and you get a helicopter to a hospital, it's at least a 20,000 or 20 plus thousand bill. But it's stated in the article, and i' I've looked again just to make sure that if you have to get a helicopter from the bottom of the Grand Canyon to the top of the Grand Canyon, but you stay in the Grand Canyon, how much was it? You guys remember that? Free? Yes, free.
01:02:32
Speaker
It's actually really as long as you have a backcountry permit. Yes, that that's right stipulation and that was probably why it was so hard to get and So that was I think in the back of our head like at least we have that right. Am I wrong yeah no you're not wrong? Okay, and we have agreed even I mean we we agreed before we even started that trip I think standing on top of the mountain when we left that yeah, it doesn't matter what if you have a paper cut or we're going to talk about it yeah yeah with and we did We need to stop to take a break We will. We will. No pride. Right. Yeah. And so you were like, I think you were like this. I can't get up there with my bag. Like I just can't the wait. Like I, and it's not like something you were like, well, I'll just try it. Cause if you're in a precarious spot, they're not going to be able to get you. Yeah. And so, well, and part of my worry was I didn't want to slow these guys down. I had that fear like going into this, right um, you know, as well, just, it was, I was already in my mind that I just, I sure felt like I prepared that. Like these guys have said, you can't really prepare for this trip. There's nothing in Iowa that you can do because you probably did the most hiking. Honestly, I felt great going into this thing where I was, but.
01:03:32
Speaker
It's just a different beast. I can't even describe it. Like I'm not doing it justice by sitting here trying to describe it. But so I had that in the back of my mind already that like, gosh, my back's really hurting me. i don't um'm um I'm already fearful of slowing them down and knowing like I'm not in great shape that second morning, I want to quit. I kind of went through that process and like, what do you want to do? And we sat down for what, 40 minutes? Yeah, it was a long process because when Let's talk about it. The realization came to me because I've got my Garmin with the SOS. I've never hit it before, never hoped I would. And I'm like, dude, are you sure? Because I don't know what happens when we hit this. But we do know there was domino effects that happened that we couldn't get back. That makes sense. As soon as you hit this SOS thing in Garmin, it even gives you a 15-second delay. Yeah, it does a countdown. So right when you get to the point where you're like, OK, I'm going to hit it, you hit it. And then there's a countdown. So it gives you more time to think. Then it's like, OK, dude, are you sure? And it wasn't like we didn't believe you, it's just like, we don't really know what happened to you. Yeah, I don't know. We know now. So then Garmin came on the device and asked the situation, and I replied back, and then they got granted a search rescue. They were trying to figure out what was going on, because usually when people hit SOS, it's like a life threatening, somebody's phone. Yeah, so then just a slew of questions come back, which they're trying to vet just to make sure that it's a legit, like, hey, we need to send a helicopter down.
01:04:56
Speaker
But then they, you know, they asked, Hey, can you stay the night and we can come tomorrow? And then I think that was like, man, I don't know about that. Yeah. And so I think that might've changed our mind. right some high to No, no, right. No. And like, then, like, we gotta be honest, we were sitting there so long and we still have a six hour.
01:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, so that was the other case. It's like, hey, we've got to make sure that we're not on the trail when it's dark. And then we get to our designated spot to before dark. Which we kinda didn't really know, because there's only a couple spots that are flat enough to camp at. And we have to make sure we make it to one of those, which we really didn't know where it was on the map, because we had no intention of going back the same way. Yeah, we weren't looking at that hike like, oh, this one could be a good spot. No, we didn't. Right. And what I didn't realize when I set up my Garmin account years ago that When you when you do an SOS, it notifies a lot of people. Okay, so let's just talk about the domino effects that happen. So they call the just the emergency like whoever I had my contact, they call the National Park Rangers, then they call whoever your contact was, which was your ex wife.
01:06:02
Speaker
and my sister and yes maybe my dad. yes And then I didn't realize that because we don't have cell service. Right, we had no idea. And you set this up two years ago. Like I wouldn't know who I did. like you know yeah And so so then Catherine, which is your ex-wife, gets the phone call and she calls every one of our wives. yep And I didn't know exactly what she got communicated with, but I guess she just said, hey, we got a knee issue and a back issue, unable to continue.
01:06:28
Speaker
And so poor Catherine had to call all of our wives, like, I don't know how a lot of information, but total God thing, because she's a nurse. And like, that's kind of what she's known, for like, that's kind of what she's trained for is like pretty intense situations, keeping calm. So I think it was honestly a godsend. Well, and i I did communicate to your three wives.
01:06:47
Speaker
Yes. Hey, here's, you know, in a way to not, you know, cause alarm, but hey, we're turning around. Got, you know, Bart's knee, Todd's back. yeah where It's not life threatening. We're going to get out. But yeah, my sister got a call from Garmin. She didn't answer. it She thought it was spam.
01:07:06
Speaker
eventually answered it. I'm not sure what they say on there. but And I didn't realize all this till we got out of the canyon. I sell service. I'm getting all these texts. How does everybody know? It's an amazing service. So I would yeah highly recommend Garmin and the whole process. And I hope you never have to hit it, but at least you now know. Like I said, it should be a public service. And everybody we saw going back up that was coming down had one. i mean ah Oh, yeah yeah. Yeah, for sure. Okay, so we decide we're gonna do the Garmin SOS thing after probably 45 minutes because it wasn't just like, hey, I just had a text out. It was like, you send a text and then you get something back maybe six to seven minutes later. Like, it just takes a while. um But we decide and they tell us, hey, if you dropped weight, could you get out? And that was kind of like, oh, okay. Because we didn't want to litter. I mean, not litter because it's nice a REI stuff that's brand new, but.
01:07:59
Speaker
But Todd was like, basically, let's drop his weight and we'll see if we can get out of here. But the funny thing happened back at the camp when we started kind of cleaning up our campsite. Todd and I switched tents because mine was light and horrible, a plastic bag, and then his was a little bit heavier. So I took his tent and then one thing that's still left in the bottom of the canyon is my tent. I don't know if they got it. I'm sure somebody got it. But I'm mad I didn't get it home just so I could sacrificially burn that. So we start heading back up after we dropped weight. And we were probably sitting at a four hour, four and a half. Oh, I bet it's all five. Five hours? OK. Back to the first place where we thought we could stop. Halfway up. Yep. It was a place we had lunch the day before. Yeah, that's exactly that. And that's what we agreed upon. We wanted to get halfway where we had lunch the day before, which
01:08:49
Speaker
Yep. And then what happens five minutes before we get to camp? Well, before we get there, like, like turning around and and then starting the ascent up from Tanner Beach on the way, like like mentally and emotionally, that's hard. Oh, yeah. And we didn't realize the physical suck that that was going to end, the endurance we'd need for that too. The only thing that I would say that helped that was that we have two injured people for me. Like that gave, it took my mind off of how sucky this is and it turned into almost a rescue mission in my head, but it did. It was, it was bad. Cause you're at the bottom and you see the top and you're like, I gotta get up there. I'll never get there. Never get there. Right. Cause the pace you're going is, is ridiculous. It was getting hot that first day and we turned, turned back around. Right. We stopped a lot. Yeah.
01:09:38
Speaker
Yeah. So, all right, let's go. We ready for what happens is we get five minutes round two. Yep. It's five minutes before our next, uh, spot where we can actually set up tent set up camp, which we don't even know if we're in the right spot. Right. Right. It starts to rain.
01:09:54
Speaker
This will be our second night camp. Yep. And this is more like 445. No, it's 330. Okay. Yes. It's 330. But it's getting dark. It's getting dark. Well, just because of the storm coming in. Right. And this is not the same type of rain that we had the day before. No. Right. Right. This is starting to rain really hard. And sideways. and And yeah, the wind is picking up. And because we're higher in the canyon, the temperatures are even colder. Right. Right.
01:10:23
Speaker
So, the flat spot that we found Just happened to be on like a bed of rocks as well. that's right right So your tent stakes don't really go in too well. Yeah, that's actually a really good point. oh Or at all. So again, yeah, for for the second night in a row, we're freezing, we're soaked. We're trying to set our tents up. But luckily, Todd and I are now going to camp in his. so Yeah, you two are setting up a tent. We all have free tents now. Yeah. Nate na is setting up a tent right next to you guys, and then I'm kind of off to the side trying to yeah trying to find a spot and throw down. My problem was I left everything down at the bottom. that's right So like I had no rain gear. nope i Half of my stuff and the stuff that I didn't think I would need is the stuff I left at the bottom. that's right And it was ended up being the stuff that I need. We weren't planning for rain no at all going up the next two days based on our forecast and the way the weather was even walking up there. So Todd and I get our tin up pretty quick. And I knew Bart was in a bad place.
01:11:26
Speaker
Struggle Bus was real. And he was like, I'll take any help you guys can give me. And I remember helping you with your tent, but again, we didn't really get the stakes down. I got your tent erect, and I make sure that it wasn't getting water. Well, the tent was up. I could not get the rain cover on. That's right. So as I'm trying to get the rain cover on, rain is still just pouring into my tent from the mesh. Yep. So I'm in freak out mode now. Yes. And I look over, everyone's tent is up. Probably like you were the first time. Everyone's tent's up. Yours is nine. You're like, all right, great. Thanks, guys.
01:11:55
Speaker
So I'm like, hey, any help would be awesome at this point. yeah yeah yeah So yeah, Phil and in Phil-like fashion comes running over, helps me get the the rain cover on. and At that point, for the second night in a row, we all jump into our tents, throw all of our stuff into our tents, yeah and pretty much don't see or talk to each other. Yeah, and it was probably four o'clock in the afternoon. And that was by far like the wettest, though. like That was just different random experiences. For you guys. Yeah, I guess I get into this tent and I'm like this is the Taj Mahal like yeah I was like and and I look over at Todd and he's shivering and shaking I was like oh man like ah well I'll help you like this is great like this is I'm living my best life here And so I get you already get you all in your sleep bag like again This is a two-person tent and it's all but two people yeah so we're like shoulder to shoulder and I couldn't be more happy to have community
01:12:51
Speaker
And again, so it's raining sideways, which means wind. So it felt and sounded like we were on Mount Everest. Just the wind was whipping. it just felt it You could hear the wind coming through the canyon before it would hit. yeah And it sounded like a train coming through.
01:13:06
Speaker
yeah and And so I've got the same tent as Todd and Phil, a two-person tent. I'm laying on like one side of the tent. So I'm pushed over to one side where the wind is not hitting because the wind is hitting the other side of my tent just' so hard. water No, it's pushing that side of the tent onto my body. Oh, yes. That's how hard the wind is is blowing.
01:13:30
Speaker
and it gets to a point where we've got just a little bit of break in the wind, and I'm like, I've gotta see if everything I have is still tarped down, or still staked down. Yeah, or my rain cover. And it wasn't. I had one stake out of four of my rain top. If your rain top would have got hold of that wind, you're not getting it back. We were in this place where we were pretty exposed. And it would just fly over the earth. If it blew off, it was gone. Yeah, we wouldn't be able to get it. You wouldn't even be able to get it if you wanted it. That's right. You could see it, but you wouldn't be able to get it. Yeah. So it's still raining, so I don't want to go out. So I'm trying to lean out.
01:14:07
Speaker
I've got these big like five dollar target gloves on that are like they're amazing they keep you warm but and I'm trying to stake this thing down and I get back into my tent and I look at my hand and I am covered in cactus. yeah fine so I had put my hand in a cactus as I'm trying to stake. Just right next to your tent, dude. I mean, it was just like one thing. Could it get worse? Just beat down after another. Oh, man. But got everything staked back down. Rest of the night was, I mean, it was scary. I'll admit, I was really, really nervous. It was probably six hours of just brutal wind where you're holding your tent and praying that your rain flight does not rip off. Because you are in a,
01:14:52
Speaker
in a really tough situation if that rainfly comes off and everything gets wet, especially with the the cold. Because you had to sleep with your hand out holding onto your raincoat. Yeah, I had it unzipped holding the rainfly and then the other arm was against the side just to keep the
Reflecting on the Mental and Emotional Journey
01:15:08
Speaker
tent from like rolling. And what we didn't realize because we were in such a hurry to set up is how close we were to the edge right right of that Plateau. The first thing I noticed when we got up in the morning and the sun was up was like, man oh my gosh, guys, look at this. And, you know, maybe 15 feet from where we were straight down or right off the cliff. oh So, but honestly, OK, 230, it rained from four to two third in the morning. I kid you not, 231. We were all sleeping like we were so exhausted.
01:15:41
Speaker
that And then then the the wind stopped, the rain stopped, we were just out. And let's ah let's mention again, second day in a row, no lunch or dinner. No dinner, right. Oh yeah, we didn't have time for that. no And like, yeah, so good point. So the next morning gets up and like, I feel like we were all doing pretty well for as gnarly as the last two days went. I think we saw light at the end of the tunnel. like This is our last day. right We've got you know five miles left. like Let's just get out of this thing. Yeah, we were in just ready to be done. right new I think all of that right it hit us all. We're like, we're going to do this no matter what. Whatever happens. yeah yeah Come hell or high water. We have our for our second meal. We actually have like a dinner for breakfast because we were just like so fan. I had beef stroganoff. Yeah, you did.
01:16:25
Speaker
Yeah, you did. And so we start our trek. So we clean up a camp, we just head on out. And let's, so this is probably the gnarliest part of the trek. Yeah, for sure. Because it's for sure. We talked about that first descent. Well, now we're taking that up. Yeah. So now we're going like 45 degrees straight up on switchbacks.
01:16:46
Speaker
And it's rocks. It's no joke. Yeah. Right. Yeah. as I was going to say though, that, that morning before we started our truck up to leave was probably the highlight of the trip for me. Cause it was honestly the only time I felt like we had the opportunity to stand around and talk like, Oh yeah, you're right. Yes. The one thing I was looking forward to was just, yes, that having that ability to hang out, talk, we did that for half hour, 45 minutes at the most yeah probably. But I remember.
01:17:13
Speaker
Packing however that how wet everything was and trying to get a man act up was just miserable but miserable Honestly, like that was probably the highlight of I agree three days together was just having that ability to actually expensive time I agree not focus on scrambling our butts off and yeah, it's a good point. That's a good point Yeah, so we took it we we went up and and here was the ending like Organize eight or like how we ended up Walking out it was I don't know the pattern or whatever you call it But what would you call it the rotation or the kind of our formation? Yeah formation. Thank you It was Nate was in the front Nathan did a great job leading He was just going then it was Bart then it was Todd and then it was me and like we did pretty good on that last day for as As hurt as we were like we clipped because we were all pretty pretty excited about getting out of that.
01:18:03
Speaker
That start of that morning, my legs have never hurt so bad in my life. i did Then we started up that hill that Nate mentioned. That very first hill was an absolute monster. And I thought to myself, it's going to be a miracle if my legs last this long to get me out of this thing. It's literally, you go 50 feet, you stop. Yeah, that's exactly right. Everybody catch up. And nobody's mad about it either. It's like, we're happy to stop. Yeah, yeah we're like a turtle, but we're making in progress, right?
01:18:32
Speaker
Right. And so, uh, we'll flash forward. We get to the end. There was no really big things that happened other than just slowly trudging up this Canyon and we get out and I've never been so happy to sit in that van in my life. So good. Yeah, it was.
01:18:50
Speaker
you know to feel that first night of self-defeat because you know you're not gonna make it to what your planned finish line was, right to making it to your option B finish line, right it still felt pretty amazing. yeah um you know The first thing I did was call my wife and I was holding back tears. yeah you know it was like just a complete emotional dump, like adrenaline dump. Everything you can think of dumping was getting dumped at that time. yeah And ah man, it was a it was an interesting feeling. i've never I don't think I've ever felt like that before in my life. yeah It just almost overwhelmed with joy coming out. I was the same way. But honestly, that that's second night,
01:19:38
Speaker
is the closest I think I've ever, like I can honestly say i there were times that crossed, and Phil was laying right next to me, thankfully, but like there were times i I literally thought we were toast. like right I more time praying that entire night. Really? yeah I was it i was like living my best life. like I was like, this is great. Yeah, but i it's we were our your rain fly away from like somebody spent. Oh, man, right. It it was yeah a real thing that night. Yeah. And our tent rain. That's really a good point. Like if your rain fly goes out, like we don't really have the much room in our tent and he doesn't have any room. He's got a one man. So so it was a big deal. It was a big deal. But you don't really realize until you start talking about like, which I mean, you think about all the obstacles that God put in front of us. You think about.
01:20:25
Speaker
all the things that could have happened that he didn't let out. Oh yeah, du we were. Yeah, we we were all right yeah we are right. When you make it to the end, you're like, okay. It could have got dicey pretty quick. Yeah, it could have been way worse. right yeah Or just you know you in your fall, like that could have gone south and just getting you out from where we were at. Again, 15 minutes from it, but like, woo that would have been hard. Okay, so biggest things, biggest takeaways from this trip, now that everybody knows what I mean by I just got Escalante'd. Oh man. Biggest takeaways.
01:20:58
Speaker
You know, I think for me, just the preparation for the trip, the training, it really resembles life. So we talked earlier how all of us came together because of our connection group, and we've done life together for six years. and Some of it's been very difficult, um I know for myself, just really going through some really tough years with you guys. And this, to me, this trip, um like you can prepare, kind of like life. You prepare, you expect things. One of your questions was, it you know, 20 years ago, do you think you'd be where you're at now? No.
01:21:34
Speaker
um But just like this trek, you plan for a specific way that it's gonna go, because that's all you can really prepare for, but you hope your training prepares you for any obstacle that comes your way. And um I've always, especially as I've gotten older, obstacles oftentimes bring refinement. And with that mentality, um you can become better once you make it through. And this trip was another example of that. It didn't go the way we wanted to, but in some ways it was probably harder than had we not had the obstacles and made it all the way through. And just like in connection group, just like in this trip, like who you trek with matters. ah And these three here, I wouldn't want to trek with anyone else
01:22:24
Speaker
through life, or through any challenge that we go through. And so, that was my biggest takeaway, and how important it is, in your faith. You know, your faith in God, knowing, hey, yeah there's a reason for all of this. Right. Yours is a good point, looking back on what it could have happened, how gracious God was to us. I think that's a really good point. Alright, Bart, what was your big takeaway? So, I think any time you go through something you know this difficult, and when you come out on the other side and you actually self-reflect on it, and you look at, okay, are there things like inherently in me that I can be better at? For me, it's definitely, I think, flexibility.
01:23:04
Speaker
So I'm a planner, I'm pretty rigid in in the way I want things to go and when they don't go that way. And there are a lot of moments like that on this trip. um It's a challenge for me. And it remained a challenge for me during the trip, but afterwards I'm like, dude, you've gotta be better. Like we've we've really gotta start working on being flexible. And I think with that it comes,
01:23:28
Speaker
giving over to God. like you know We talk a lot about, we're not in control, he is. So putting our faith in in God and and understanding that um he's gonna light that path for us,
01:23:42
Speaker
That's a great point. Yeah, I think that's you know coming out of this and and really looking at the whole entire trip. that's That's kind of where I landed. Right. That's good. That's good because I think while we were on that path, and you mentioned it, you don't really know exactly where you're going to go next. But you do know the next five feet.
01:24:02
Speaker
And that's just such a perfect example of like, God's going to light up your path.
Lessons Learned from the Adventure
01:24:08
Speaker
Not the whole path, but it's going to light the lamp of my feet, right? It's going to give you the next step. And the times when you feel like, I don't know what the future's going to be, stop and just focus on the next step, right? Oh, it's good. It's good, Bart. Yeah, and that's where your faith comes in, too. Yes, 100%. Whether spiritually or physically, like, if you put the training in. Yeah.
01:24:27
Speaker
Right. yeah All right. Todd. I mean, you guys see the theme here. it's I would say the same thing. God, faith. And that's it's that's what brought the four of us together. And that's, I mean, for me, I guess, looking back at the trip um to God be the glory. And I say that in terms of, like, it we're on His time. um Although the trip hardly went, I prepared, I felt self-repaired going into this thing and nothing I prepared for, I did. Like, it was all, you know, adversity at its finest. And i that's what I walk away from. Like, he taught me.
01:25:04
Speaker
more than probably more on that trip than I ever expected to learn in terms of what I didn't expect to learn. And I say that like I was super prepared. I felt great. I was, you know, going into this with you guys. Like I said, my biggest thing was wanting to spend time with you guys and getting to know you on a different level. And none of that happened. But yet, But we kind of, all of it happened. yeah yeah that yeah I look back at like the the fact that like he just challenged us in different ways. He challenged us. And I think we are, I don't i wouldn't say we're closer or tighter, but um he brought us together. We're still here. and And that's probably what I would take away from it.
01:25:37
Speaker
Okay, that's good. So I would say how important community is because when we we're down and we we're all in our own tents, we were all isolated and we were all left to our own, just our own struggles and our own challenges. our own we're wrestling with our own, I think ourselves. And so I think it's it's important and just to show how important community is because that second night was like when I was with Todd and we, two grown men, like basically snuggling, snuggling, yeah. Like I was like, this is okay. And that's the part where I wish we could have done it again and done it over. I would have said, we just need two tents.
01:26:15
Speaker
We need two tents. We need to figure it out. Like we're not going to be sleeping anyway, right? Or we're going to be too exhausted, but it was way better. Even though the second night was way worse. I was just, I had, I had somebody right. And like, we could laugh about like, holy cow, what is going on? And that was what we didn't have in our first day. We didn't ever be able to just talk. How are you doing? What's going on? And so it, it, it matters on who you choose to do life with. You kind of touched on that.
01:26:43
Speaker
and because your life isn't gonna go according to plan. And when it doesn't, who are you surrounding yourself with to be able to like, I might not be doing great, or like, i I just needed a little help here. And so to me, how important community is, because without it, you're isolated and you're left to your own devices to be able to mentally tell yourself a story that may or may not be true. And so I think the trip was a huge success. Although we didn't end where we wanted to go, we ended up,
01:27:12
Speaker
learning more about ourselves and each other. And again, like I wouldn't want to do anybody, like this is like my people. And and we've gone through some hard things and things that we weren't planning on, but we got through it. And I think the community aspect is important because I don't know that any one of us could have done this without each other right to get back out. right right Because of the mental, physical, emotional piece to it. right You accomplish more together. Totally.
01:27:41
Speaker
And it it is a little bit like, would you go on a Grand Canyon four-day trip by yourself? The answer would be like, you shouldn't. We saw a few of those people who question their sanity. Yeah, right. You probably shouldn't, especially if you're experienced like us. But I feel like that's kind of what we did, because we were all by ourselves for, I haven't done the math, but most of the time.
01:28:00
Speaker
Right? Because we're in our tents. And again, i never no one else did saw a star in the Grand Canyon. like How is that even possible? And the fact that it never really rains, it doesn't rain very much in the Grand Canyon, only suggests that it was God orchestrated from the beginning, which you got to put your faith in that. So yeah that's our story. um I got one question for you guys though. Okay. Hit me. Would you do it again? Oh, you dirty dumb. Would you go back to get Escalante'd again? If you had a chance to do it, I'd do things way differently, but yeah part of me, Bart and I walked out and we both said absolutely not initially. Now as time goes on a little bit, I'm almost getting more and but beyond so we're all fairly competitive guys. Like part of me wants to do something to conquer it again or to, I would just prepare so much differently.
01:28:49
Speaker
So here's a question to you, because that second night, we were laying in a tent. Not much was said, but one of the questions Phil asked us was what was the worst mistake you ever made? Yeah, right. And coming on the trip. Todd and Bart said this trip. That's Calante. Do you guys still think that? Oh, that's a good question. Oh, man. So I'll answer Todd's question first. No, I wouldn't. OK. And you know what? Even if I was fully healthy and and knew that I could get through the full four days you know pain free,
01:29:20
Speaker
my my fear of heights. yeah Like I can't even enjoy the trip a lot. You overcame a lot. yeah eating no bart like yeah I appreciate it, but just not not even, and not knowing that that's how that trek was going to be, going into it. yeah Now knowing that.
01:29:37
Speaker
Yeah. I'm probably a hard no. Yeah. And you would, you mentioned like, I hate heights, but you would never know Bart, like you didn't handle it so well. I don't care if you're afraid of heights or not. There were several, you could not stop and turn around. One, I think it's part of it was your backpack. You get dizzy and fall. You get dizzy. You couldn't look very, none of us could. And I'm not really afraid. I mean, I'm afraid of heights to some extent, but not to Bart's. It's good. But like, it was a real thing.
01:30:03
Speaker
I'll answer it. i I'm going back. I'm going back. I'm going to conquer that thing. I just feel like the Escalante got me, and like i just like we I can do better. like There's some part of me who's like, I learned so much that I don't even think it would be that, it would be challenging, but it wouldn't be that challenging.
01:30:20
Speaker
and yeah And again, mainly because like I know the tent I need to bring, I know the people I need to surround myself with, and I have an understanding of how hard it's gonna be, so I can over-prepare people of like, this'll be the hardest thing you've ever done. you know Yeah, I think you can make it more manageable. That's right, that's right. And Tanner Beach, it'd be like from top to Tanner, that's all we're doing. that's yeah yeah's And maybe even make five days out of it and get out in four, but like not pressure yourself to like, you gotta push yourself to the brink every time. like See, we had two days, we had to drive home. like There's just certain stuff that we were kind of cornered and backed into the corner. where We knew it just wasn't an option. Right. All right. So last question, Nate. Would you do it?
01:30:57
Speaker
Yes, I would do it. Because I think this again resembles life in a way that you could do something and it not go as planned, yeah but it doesn't mean you don't try again. And and not to say, you know, there's certain things you like, okay, I'm not, you can put wisdom to and be like, yeah, I'm not doing that again. But there's other things, like um I would be wiser going on this trip the next time, but we might encounter different obstacles too that wouldn't prepare you for it. So, you know, it's, you know. All right, so last question, then we'll wrap this up. Success or failure trip?
01:31:26
Speaker
for Escalante. Success or failure? Success, absolutely. Okay. Bart? Yeah, I'll go with success. Okay. Yeah. Only because of perspective. Absolutely. yeah okay now you If you would have asked me like the second we walked out of the canyon, I would have said failure, total failure. Yes. But now, to Nate's point, like perspective. Yeah.
01:31:50
Speaker
reflecting on the entire trip and what we all got out of it, right absolutely it's a success. right Yeah, I i mean totally agree. Other than like as we're all competitive guys, Phil is probably the most competitive person ever, like that we all know, but like that's that it's still burning inside of me. like I feel like we failed, but even though we didn't fail, because that truck, up right that last- I mean, we went 24 miles. We did we sure did. Straight up, straight down. I'm telling you, I haven't, if any of you looked into this, and I think Nate, you said you were maybe going to, but like I have a hard time believing the rest of that trail would have been harder than what we did. I think we did it harder. Yeah, I think it was harder. I think it was harder. Just if we would have kept going, it would have been longer. Yes, right. Right. I agree. I would say total, total success, total success. Nice. So anyway, this is kind of the first time we got to regroup after the 22 mile or 22 hour trip back. So thank you so much for one being willing to do something crazy. And then looking at it, it's a perspective thing. Like if you think about it, we were wanting to hike four days and camp three nights. What we ended up doing is hiking three days and camping two nights. Like it was a huge success. So, uh, if you're listening right now and you want to do something fun, we, I would love to hear about it, but I'll tell you one thing. It's not going to go according to plan. I thought you were going to highly recommend Escalante. So I'm glad you didn't say that. No, I'm not. I'm not saying that. So thank you so much for listening. Thank you all three for taking the time. Thanks buddy. Yeah. Uh, you've been listening to uncommon wealth podcast until next time. Go do something like the Escalante, but don't get a Escalante.
01:33:18
Speaker
Thanks for listening. That's all for this miss an episode as we introduce you to inspiring people who are actively pursuing an uncommon life.