Church on the Rock :: Alaska

After a fabulous time in Battleground we headed up I-5 to meet up with Pastor Mike Sloan and Luke Epperson. Mike took us through all his old haunts as we headed to Crystal Mountain to camp out before we began to climb. In the morning we got up and headed to the White River campground to head up the trail to Camp Schurman…which is just over 9,000 feet.

The lower trail was all washed out, so we had to do a lot of rock scrambling before we hit the snow. We practiced some self-arresting and then headed up to Camp Schurman. I have to admit the first crevasse that I had to jump was a little nerve racking but after a while you get used to them. We made it to Camp Schurman before 6 p.m. and set out our tents. At 2 a.m. we set out to make the ascent to the top. Shortly into our climb Dan Schwartz broke a crampon and headed back to camp with Mike (not Mike Sloan) the 5^th man in our group. Mike Sloan, Luke & I were tied up together and kept going.

On the way up we met up with a team that had turned around because one of the ice fields was very difficult to cross and they did not feel confident enough. When we got there we realized what they had faced. After some discussion we decided to go for it and made it through without anyone slipping into a crevasse.

As we kept gaining altitude it was amazing the energy and effort it took.Pastor Mike Sloan was slowed some by a cough he had and I had a couple of moments of my head spinning and almost blacking out…I think it was altitude adjustment. After a few moments I felt fine and didn’t feel the altitude problem again after that. It was beautiful weather, probably too nice. When the sun came up it very quickly warmed things up and the snow conditions starting rapidly getting worse. At the 13,000 foot level some of the teams that had made it to the top ran in to us on the way back.

We faced one more bad ice field to get across and because of the worsening conditions of the snow and not feeling good about the time it had taken us to get to where we were the decision was made to turn around and come back another day. So it was back down to Camp Schurman, and then all the way back down the mountain. It was amazing all the training I had done running did not fully prepare me for coming down a mountain with a 50 lb pack. The next few days my legs were as sore and hard to move as any time in my life.

My overall impression of high altitude climbing:

It is great while you’re climbing and traversing.

Trying to sleep in a tent is not up there with my favorite things to do.

I think I ate too many Cliff bars…don’t want to see another one until next summer when I plan to attempt Rainier from the other side.

Overall a great experience with some great guys. Looking out over the Seattle area on a clear night from Rainier is awesome.

Pastor David Pepper

What a great joy to see the good work that the Lord is doing at COTR Battleground.

My friend Alan Olson picked me up at the Seattle airport Friday evening and we caught a Mariner’s game at Safeco field before driving south. The Mariner’s were wiped out and I made the mistake of eating a hot dog…didn’t sit well and had to have a latte to heal my stomach.

Saturday morning I had my first experience at a spinner class…one hour in a gym with a pile of Lance Armstrong look-a-likes…except Al & myself. Then it was off to REI to get the last few things for the assault on Rainier. Dan Schwartz met up with us and after picking up some Cliff bars, it was time to set up for the church service.

They have a great system for set up and tearing down every week. We had a great time of fellowship and dinner with Pastor Bill Courtnay. Another church, Living Hope, has a Saturday evening service which we went to attend. It was a wonderful experience. On Sunday morning it was so awesome to see familiar faces, as well as the growth that the church has experienced. There is a great hunger and love for God and people. At the end of the service many of the congregation were seeking God at the altar. It was great reconnecting with Pastor Bill & Janet, the Olson’s, Ryan and Heidi, Lloyd and Debbie, Jonathan and Candice and all the rest of the church family.

“D-Group” stands for “Discipleship Group,” and you can never start too early with teaching and modeling to boys the importance of being a Christ follower.

We have spent the summer learning how to journal both from the Bibleand about our life experience. The life journals the boys are using will also be a great reminder in years to come of the truth God was revealing to them and the forging of character in experiencing the challenges of outdoor Alaska.

We have had a number of great times together. We climbed the Butte, went on an overnight hike to Mike Sloan’s Bush Cabins, which meant we had to hike mile after mile of swamp and encountered a rather large black bear en route. The boys had fun crossing the Chulitna River via cable bridge…imagine the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and that gives a sense of the courage the boys displayed. We caught grayling at the lake but I think the biggest hit was to see who could get stuck the deepest in a swamp. We also camped overnight in Talkeetna at the Harris’s cabin on another outing and hauled in some silver salmon at Sunshine Creek. Marshall (little Marsh) Watson was the “fear no fish” man of the night, but a number of us caught our limit. The boys also experienced Golf Shot in Wasilla, basics of using a bow and arrow at the Emmi’s house, how to start a fire…how to put out a fire, games of ultimate frisbee, football, basketball at Wonderland Park, an afternoon at the state fair, bowling and cleaning up the church grounds.

A big thank you to all the men and fathers that have participated over the summer which includes Mike Humphrey, Larry Rushing, Ed Peck, Luke Epperson, Brad Hall, Andy Bunker, Marshall Watson, Mac Adkins, Jeff Borngraeber, Ernie Emmi, Scott Schaffer, Mike Sloan, John Harris, Chris Fritz and help from outstanding moms…Denise Moss and Sherry DesJardin. We have an awesome group of boys that the Lord has purpose for and I know will be world changers.

Onward,

Pastor David Pepper