Day Two: 07/03/2016

Day Two: 07/03/2016

Location: Zastrow Staff Camp
Destination: Zastrow Staff Camp

We stayed in Zastrow the entire day, so we didn't have to break camp or pack up at all, which was nice. We got up, had a nice trail breakfast, and then talked about trail etiquette and leave no trace principles. After that we met up with two other treks and had a sacrament church service in a chapel area that was at the staff camp, with the accompaniment of several of our church leaders. This was a really cool experience because it wasn't just another Sunday service in the pews of the same church I had been to for a lot of my life. Being out in the wilderness, reflecting on what I believe, and being able to enjoy the company of my crew was  very enriching.  The service included a musical number by a group of volunteers from the three crews and it was probably the highlight of that meeting. After the meeting, we had a chance to visit with the church leaders that were with us, and they assured us that our parents and families were okay and that they loved us and were encouraging towards us and our journey ahead.  This was pretty special to hear from them. We returned to camp and cooked our dinner for that day and had it for lunch and saved our packed lunch for on the course.
View from fire ring at Zastrow Staff Camp



Later that day, we hiked a couple minutes up to the ATV course and began our training and instruction towards becoming certified to operate an ATV. We went through a little bit of classroom training and then went out and completed 12 "riding lessons" which were a series of exercises designed to help us maneuver our ATVS on the obstacles we'd face on our trail ride later that evening. Most exercises had to deal with turning in some fashion, whether they were rapid turning, or tight turns or maneuvering through traffic. After about 3-4 hours of this we took a break and had our packed lunch for dinner and hydrated pretty thoroughly. We then mounted our ATV's for the beloved Trail ride, Roughly about a mile or so around the brush and varying terrain of the Back Country. Of our group of 11 riders, about 5 of us, including myself, crashed or got off the trail in some way, but because we had taken the appropriate safety precautions, such as helmets, gloves, vests and riding safe distances from each other, we all were safe. This made the experience really enjoyable. After the ATV ride we hiked back down to our campsite and sat around a fire and talked till it was time for bed.
Hike up to ATVs from Zastrow
*****Reflection*****
Our first full day on the trail was a long one. Looking back each day I was surprised with how much we were able to accomplish. I really enjoyed this day, mostly because of how good of friends we had become as a crew already. Everyone got along well and as the week went on, we would find more and more in common with each other.

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