Dear Jared,

As you are away with the Army, perhaps, you’d like to hear a brief on our High Adventure trip. I suggested Brother Howard to bring his 2 daughters along which raised concerns about precedent from our troops sponsor. We had only a small group anyway we just went a friends. They added greatly to the good spirit that followed us the entire journey. I was glad they came. So let me give you a brief on some of the highlights. As you know, I just barely got home from a really great Pioneering Youth Trek, when Scout Camp was upon us. I went up midweek to help with Jordon’s Team. It was, well nice. I tooled up your late uncle Chris’ old leather vest with trim and decorations at the leather working class and Jordon and 2 other boys got to do a canoe race in the choppy sound. They took 7^th out of 25. I’m sure they would done even better, but only 2 out of the 3-man crew had their canoeing MB. Throughout the week, they all had a good time and excellent leadership and teamwork were demonstrated. We then returned to what was 1 hectic week to prepare for Mt Olympus. Of course none of this stuff was on my star charts earlier this year other than Trek, but for all the travail, I wouldn’t trade the experiences.

We just got back last week from the BIG mountain climb on Mt Olympus. It really was a memorable experience. Like all our trips, it seems that we run around quite a bit on the last week getting all the equipment and food ready. This was no exception as during this last week Jordon and I built from scratch 5 sets of crampons for those we couldn’t borrow or rent for. That was quite a metalworking exercise in itself. We finally left at 5am on Monday morning. I had ½ hr sleep, Mark had 3 hrs and Phil Patteson had a decent nights rest, so Phil did the driving for me.

The Rain forest is truly awesome; the hanging moss and trees with the diameter of our living room. The 1^st night brought us 5 miles up the Ho River after 5 hrs of driving and 4 more hours at the trail head sorting gear. Somehow the dehydrated meet for several key meals was forgotten, so John Farnsworth and Danny Green went back down the trail 5 miles, fetched the missing items and returned to finally get their dinner at midnight. They were real troopers about it.

The next day was 9 miles and 2500 feet of elevation gain. We got in 5 miles and suddenly Mark near collapsed from fatigue as multiple muscle systems began to cramp up. He had had almost zero sleep the previous day and then when we lifted his pack off him we found out he was packing far more than his fair allotment of weight – perhaps trying to help lighten the load from his girls. It was really heartwarming to watch how the young men rallied to the need willingly offloading heavy items to their own packs. Then his two daughters said almost in unison, “Ill take some weight Daddy.” Jordon massaged his legs as we took even more of his weight and we scavenged all the banana chips we could from the gorp to help boost his potassium level. With all the climbing gear, our packs were nearing 40% body weight, to begin with so this was pretty taxing, but our bodies all held up to the task.

Even with offloading weight, by the time we got to Elk Lake, Mark was in real pain and cramps throughout his body. Jordon helped him again and Phil and I gave him a blessing. He rested well that night and had no further problems. His daughter Elaine, however, now began having blister trouble as her shoes turned out to only be hiking styled ‘girly’ shoes with no more substantial a sole than a moccasin! One again, the young men stepped forward and volunteered to carry more weight, as did Phil and I. You can’t imagine what a unifying experience this was to see such Love tendered to each other. Its easy to carry someone burden when yours is light, but these young men took on burden when their shoulders where already pressed heavily. To me, this was the highlight of the trip – not the mountain climb and grand vistas.

We put in another 1000 feet or so in 3 miles to the base camp at Glacier Meadows. On a big house sized bolder we practiced crevasse rescue and planned our accent with the insight offered by a resident ranger. We would try for a sister peak called Panic Peak.

At 5am we left for Mt Olympus’ Blue Glacier. We hiked another 1000 feet to the base of the glacier and spent a few hours getting gear and boys squared away. At last after 9am we began crossing the glacier following the route we observer a previous party to have taken. We crossed rivers running across the field, hopped over smaller crevasses and gingerly stepped through translucent sections that left one apprehensive as to whether the next step would bring progress or a call to hold a fall! The crew of 9 on a single belay line did wonderfully. I would take them anywhere as they faithfully executed everything to their best. We had a communication system up/down the line that worked like a well-oiled machine.

After several hours we rested and ate lunch on a set of exposed rocks with the final mastiff under the main peak to our back, huge blue cracking and thundering ice ceracs to our right and the expansive glacier we had just crossed below us. It is hard to find words to describe the juxtaposition of serenity and majesty that was laid out before us. Some of the home build crampons had not faired as well as I had hoped and as we had to straighten several tines I decided to traverse to a rock approach to a nearby false peak, which we dubbed ‘Panic Point’. We stayed roped up in a running belay as I led the team up a class 3 approach. We encountered a short class 4 and class 5 pitch where we switched to a full belay. We were up a good 400 feet when we found out that the batteries to our camera were in the pack at the bottom and we were short a few water bottles. Jordon and I hustled back down to the bottom, fetched the needed items and pressed ourselves to ascend again as quickly as my frame (the limiting factor) would allow.

We topped out on an impressive point overlooking all but the Olympus peak behind us. We were elated and snapped the last few shots. Phil had a cell phone, which at this altitude actually worked and we called our wives and mothers, each time exclaiming we had attained Panic Peak as the rest of us would scream and holler. It was really funny.

We carefully descended to the snowfield and put our crampons back on. To my dismay, Grant discovered something called a bergshrund (the gap between the rock and the glacier) as he accidentally dropped his crampon down it. We commenced a big excavation effort as we extracted a washer machine sized ice chunk and then Phil went head 1^st with his long ice axe and managed to snag it! Yahoo! We lost a precious hour and I was now more anxious to get the crew off the mountain without further delay.

We moved quickly but had to stop frequently as some of the young men had trouble securing their crampons. Somehow I had only accounted for 8 – not 9 participants, but because Jordon and I had made spare parts, we had put together 1 more pair on-the-fly at the trailhead, but the rigging required a little more finesse. The glacier was just flowing with water in the late afternoon, making for uncertain footing such that several times, I would holler to Jordon to prepare to hold a fall as I plunged onto uncertain surfaces. I tripped once snagging a crampon on a gaiter and I pitched over only to plant the other crampon through my pants and garments to my knee. I felt protected by God, as my knee was not even scratched by the knife sharp points. The group we had followed on the way up now descended the snow dome behind Panic Point and seeing our tracks followed us down on the new path we were forging. As both groups exited the glacier, hearty greetings were exchanged between 2 happy but tired parties. That night we sipped warm chicken noodle soup and gave grateful thanks to God.

The next two days were both fun and demanding. We swam in a very warm lake on the 1^st nine-mile decent. We ate berries galore, sang songs and told jokes, rubbed each other shoulders and doctored Mark and Elaine’s tender feet. We nicknamed her ‘princess and the pea’. She never complained, but we knew she was is a load of pain and so as the miles progressed we continued to transfer more and more weight until at the last few miles, Phil took her lightened pack entirely.

Danny Green, Jordon Marquis, Grant Grismore and Phil Patteson (Alias Paul Bunion)

Super hiker John Farnsworth, Mark, Martha & Elaine Howard chow down.

This task ever ends, but Dad Howard and girls don’t mind.

Jordon, the engineer’s Son builds a bridge

After leaving the park, we laundered our clothes as we ate Chinese food in a nearby lumber town. We then proceeded to Sol Duc hot springs. Ooou that felt good! At near dark, we found a nearby forest road camp by a creek and set up for the Sabbath layover. I found something else – a real treasure; a big queen sized air mattress. I was tempted for a moment, but it seemed only right that the stoic and cheerful ‘princess and the pea’ get the mattress, so the Howard’s slept out under the stars on the comfiest digs this side of the Olympics.

The Sabbath was observed with songs and talks time to meditate and write journals and finish a merit badge or two. We had a very nice Sacrament meeting with Grant giving a nice talk and the men variously taking part in exhortation. John came faithfully prepared to officiate in the Lords Supper as he surprised us crusty mountain men with a white shirt and tie.

The night drew to a close with a sumptuous feast, testimonies and heartfelt thanks.

On the way home, Phil treated us to hamburgers at Dicks and the men bought their gals flowers. Phil and Nancy surprised us with roses to give to Elaine and Martha and all pitched in clean the cars for Sister Marquis and Sister Howard.