Rest at Pictured Rocks

Day by Day on a School of Adventure Leadership (SALT) Trip

By HoneyRock Center for Leadership Development

October 28^th, 2021

The group of SALT Staff had been at HoneyRock for the past four weeks completing all of their training. They had gotten WFR certified (Wilderness First Responder), participated in scenarios to prepare for leading campers, been versed in all of HoneyRock's wilderness gear and procedures, and enjoyed seminars from a variety of HoneyRock's professional staff to prepare them for the summer as counselors. This trip was their final trip before campers came. The goal of the trip was to practice their wilderness skills, rest together, and have time to enjoy being with each other and the Lord in the Wilderness before their campers came. As the camp photographer for the Summer I was able to join the women on this trip in order to capture a small bit of what it looks like to go on a trip as a member of SALT staff. Continue scrolling to read about and see what it was like to join them on this trip!

Day One

The group of SALT staff gathered together on Chrouser lawn for their final training trip of the summer. Jess, a student in the Outdoor and Adventure Leadership M.A. and Program Coordinator, gave out directions and routes and everyone got to packing. All of the gear was tested to make sure it was ready for a week in the woods, all the food was sorted through to ensure there was enough of everything, and they began to divide up the gear.

Once everyone had their bags packed with both their personal and group gear, they gathered up to pray, grabbed sack lunches, and piled in two vans for the three-hour drive to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

The rest found in the wilderness is so rich, nothing is asking for your attention except for your most basic needs: food, hydration, sleep.

Once we arrived at the trailhead, gear was given its final look over and shoes were donned. The group gathered to pray one final time before saying goodbye to the drivers and hitting the trail.

About a mile in the girls said goodbye to the guys as the separate units were going different directions on the trail. A few short miles later, us girls had reached our campsite for the next two nights and began to set up camp. As tents and tarps were being raised and tied, a heavy sun shower rained down on us. It passed quickly and camp was soon set up.

The next task at hand was acquiring water for cooking and drinking. We all trekked a half mile through the sunny, soaked forest to the edge of Lake Superior and spent some time filling up our water, playing in the edge of the water, and running along the huge rock that edged Lake Superior.

We soon went back for dinner in the rain. Tori cooked up some alfredo sauce and noodles while the rest of us huddled under the tarp to hide from the rain. We eventually all gathered there to eat our dinner. Post-dinner, once it had become dark enough, we all gathered in one of the tents and told stories until we were ready for the sleep.

Day Two

The next day was a layover day so we had no hiking on our agenda. I started the day with a slow wake up around 8:30am, some of the girls were already up, some were still in bed. I brushed my teeth and stopped by the toilet before making my way down the trail to the “beach” across the stream. Tori, who was already there, and I had every intention of having our own personal morning quiet times but we ended up chatting and giggling with our toes dipping in Lake Superior for about an hour. We then made our way back to our campsite and started hot water on one of the stoves for coffee.

The rest of the girls slowly joined us and I tried to start a fire to toast my bagel but the previous nights rain had made this difficult. I toasted my bagel over the stove and heaped on some peanut butter. This, two fig newtons, and some scraps Dominique gave me from her mango made for a treat of a breakfast. Soon after we had done what little it takes to get ready for a day in the woods (essentially only brush your teeth and lightly organize camp), a group of us gathered a small bit of gear to hike to a nearby waterfall where we played in the water.

Once back at camp we decided to take lunch to the “beach.” We ended up spending most of the afternoon laying in the sun, playing in the water, reading, writing, chatting, and enjoying a day far from many of our worries.

The day ended with a chips and beef meal cooked on the rocks at sunset and more “tent time” once it was dark. During tent time, I was asked to share my life story with the group, the rest of them had shared them with each other over their five weeks of training but they wanted to hear mine. After I shared my story, they all encouraged me with things they had seen in me and ended by praying for me. I felt very seen, loved, and known.

Day Three

We woke up a little earlier this morning, packed up camp and ate breakfast before hitting the trail. We spent most of the day hiking along the edge of Lake Superior. Sometimes through thick, slow, sand a few feet away from a beach, other times the trail turned to dirt high on the cliffs above Superior. We met a few different people on the trail and eventually ended up at a visitors center where we commandeered a picnic table for lunch. After finishing our lunch, filling up our water, and resting, we continued on the trail to our last campsite. There, we set up a very similar campsite to what we had set up the first night. Once camp was set up, everyone slowly slipped into sleeping bags or hammocks to rest for a bit before dinner. The sky was dreary and sometimes a few raindrops fell down but there were no big storms. We eventually all gathered around the stove that Erika had been cooking our noodles over and once dinner had been portioned out into everyones bowls, we gathered around the fire to share our last dinner on the trail. The sun had soon set and we cleaned up the meal and burrowed into our tents to sleep.

Day Four

It was our last morning and after a cold breakfast camp got packed up quickly. We had two miles to hike to the parking lot where we were getting picked up.

When Gabby came, we piled in the van with relief and excitement for the showers we would get in a few hours. Along with the excitement there was an unmistakable sadness. These four days in the woods were not nearly enough for any of us, we had had a restful trip and all of us would have been happy to stay in the wilderness for another few days.

As we rode back in the van I couldn’t stop marveling over how this was my job. I was getting paid to backpack a portion of a beautiful trail, get to know some amazing women, and take photographs of some of my favorite things.

The rest found in the wilderness is so rich, nothing is asking for your attention except for your most basic needs: food, hydration, sleep. This trip was restful for all of us but it met me in a deep part of my soul that I didn’t know needed it.