An unexpected adventure: Reboot’s May 2013 Cheaha Wilderness trip (part 1)

This is the first of a two-part series about encountering many surprises during our May 2013 backpacking trip, including 7 inches of rain. Click here for part 2.

Part 1: Friday, May 18

The basic idea behind Reboot Wilderness Adventures is to help people reconnect with God while studying His word and exploring His creation in the Alabama wilderness. It’s designed to be a short overnight backpacking/camping adventure where we are just enough removed from civilization that we experience a real sense of wilderness but close enough to assistance if any emergencies arise. While I usually plan the route, take precautions and plan what themes and Bible passages I feel like God is calling me to share, I always leave room for and expect that we will encounter God’s presence on the trail during our trips.

The view from our planned campsite along the Pinhoti on a much sunnier day.

On our May 17-18 overnight backpacking trip to the Cheaha Wilderness in east Alabama, we expected to hike the 7.5 mile Cave Creek Loop and spend a night on the trail. But God gave much more of an adventure than we ever thought possible. It was an adventure full of lightning, storms, soaked gear and washed out roads and trails. About 7 inches of rain later, we loved every minute of it.

The Reboot ministry is very new. We are still spreading the word about our men’s trips around Frazer and around Montgomery. While many expressed interest, May seemed to be a busy month. Two men joined me on the first trip, my old friends Jeff Thomas and Josh Razavi. This is a key fact and something that God in his wisdom and much greater ways had obviously planned.

Jeff and I have been backpacking in Cheaha several times, but this was the first time for Josh. The three of us were roommates for a couple of years in college.

Earlier this year, Josh committed his life to Christ after straying from his faith for several years. We reconnected soon after, and I remain in awe of how strong his faith is even after the deaths of his mother and stepfather within weeks of each other earlier this spring. Jeff and I were excited to hang out with Josh and hear about how God is working in his life.

Jeff, left, and Josh joined me for the adventure.

We all worked a partial day on Friday. We ended up leaving town about 5 p.m., later than we typically leave for an overnighter. I checked the Weather Channel website about 10 times prior to leaving. Each time the forecast remains steady: 30 percent chance of scattered storms Friday and 50 percent chance of the same Saturday. If it does rain, I think, it will only be a short pop-up thunderstorm that we can ride out. Boy, was the forecast wrong!

The weather is fine all the way up to Ashland where I notice the sky getting progressively darker. It looks a little more menacing as we turn down Highland Road and Blue Ridge Road. By the time we make it to the Skyway motorway, it looks like it could storm at any minute. After a brief discussion as we arrive at the Cheaha Trailhead, we decide to hike in to a campsite at an overlook about half a mile away.

After praying for our trip, I share Psalms 148 and 8 and how they tell about how God created everything and how every created thing gives praise to God by fulfilling its intended purpose – a tree acts like a tree, a flower blooms for the glory of God, a bird does what birds do – and how out of all creation, God gave man and woman a special status.

After that, we hit the Pinhoti Trail. The air feels nice and breezy and the woods are beautiful in the early evening twilight.

The rain holds off until we make it to our proposed campsite. We look out at the valley below and see a massive storm heading straight for us. The lightning and thunder intensify.  The campsite is on a high ridge with very little tree cover – not a good idea in a severe thunderstorm.

We make a quick decision to head back toward the car while looking for other campsites along the way. About two minutes later, I spot one in the woods right off the trail. It’s nice and covered, giving us a little shelter from the lightning. We decide to pitch our two tents and ride out the storm there, then hopefully dry out and camp for the night.

Jeff works on setting up his three-person tent with Josh’s help. I scramble to find a place to set up my tent away from any potential widow-maker tree limbs. I finally find a place and fumble with my setup. The tent is easy to set up but the thunder and lightning are upon us and I feel the pressure. I finally get the tent set up as the rain starts. I struggle with the rainfly, which covers the tent and keeps everything dry, when the downpour starts. A deafening crack of thunder a couple of seconds later lets me know my time is up, and I throw the rainfly over my tent unattached, stash my hat, camera and backpack inside and jump into the three-person tent with Jeff and Josh.

Though the last few minutes were hectic, we are all in good spirits. It’s about 7:45 p.m. With no hope for a campfire for the evening and plenty of time while riding out the storm, I suggest that we discuss the Bible study I put together for the trip titled “The Jesus Adventure.” Jeff serves us peanut butter, apples and bananas on a tortilla as we talk.

Another storm rolls in.

The discussion is based on Luke 12:13-34 with the basic idea that  God builds us for an adventure where we seek Him above all else. But somewhere along way we mostly settle for a life of safety and financial security. In doing so, we compartmentalize God and seek control of our own lives. But in this passage, Jesus is clear that we are to store up our treasures in heaven not on earth where they rot away. He uses nature as an illustration about how God cares so much about us that he knows our needs and will provide for them if we are seeking after him with all of our hearts, though these needs won’t look like what the world says we need. It’s a call to refocus ourselves on following Christ with all our hearts and seeking the adventure that is sure to follow.

There is something very real and powerful about reading and discussing God’s word inside a tent with a couple of brothers in Christ as a thunderstorm rages all around.

At some point we all realize that in that moment we are in a real and very unexpected adventure. A normal backpacking trip is fun and a little adventurous, but we are more likely to always remember and talk about the time we rode out a severe thunderstorm in a three-person tent.

So, what happens when we seek the Jesus Adventure? This is what God taught me while riding out the first storm. When seek after Him with all our hearts, we will have to step out of our comfort zones (hiking into the wilderness under threat of rain). We will have moments that are a little scary (the storm, uncertainty at the first campsite). But he is walking with us and truly provides exactly what we need precisely when we need it (finding the campsite in the forest, the three-man tent), that He will sustain us and provide during the storms of life (the tent shelter, brothers in Christ to share the experience with and encourage and support one another, and most importantly His word to discuss and cling in our tiny thin shelter as a violent storm rages all around.)

Click here to read part 2 of the story, where we encounter more storms and even get stranded on Cheaha for a little while.