What to Expect on the Trail

Most days follow the same shape. We wake early for fifteen minutes of personal scripture study, then gather to share what we found. After a short companion study and breakfast, we break camp, review the day's plan and the "rules of the trail," and set out with a group song and prayer.

We meet at a set spot for lunch to rest, check in, and account for everyone, pausing for a short "mountaintop minute", a trailside thought led by one of the group. In the afternoon we reach camp, clean up, and settle in before dinner, an evening fireside, and a round of "thorn, rose, and bud": a challenge, a highlight, and something to look forward to. Then journaling, and bed.

The week opens at base camp on Saturday: arrive, set up, get to know the group, register, and share a first dinner together.

Sunday is a day of preparation. We take pre-hike photos, study and worship together, and organize and distribute the week's food. Every pack goes through a "shakedown", a gear inspection that makes sure each hiker is ready and carrying only what they need, and each person sets personal goals for the week ahead.

These days are the heart of the trek. The group follows the daily rhythm mile after mile, settling into the trail and into each other.

At camp, optional workshops teach real backcountry skills, building a fire, purifying water, planning and selecting a route, and choosing gear. Challenges are shared, prayers are answered, and a group of individuals becomes a band of brothers.

On the final trail day we hike out to the pickup point, account for everyone, and take our group photo. Then it's back to the campground for hot showers, a dinner out, and an evening fireside, a testimony meeting where the youth share what the week has meant, closing with prayer and song.

We close the week with a morning of whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River, a joyful, hard-earned finish, before packing up and heading home.