Best and Hardest Exam Ever!

You may have heard pieces of this story already but here is the whole thing. Last weekend was our SAR (search and rescue) exam for OL and it was not like any other exam out there. It was real and fun and cold! I don't have many pictures just because there was not lots of chances to take pictures but it was for sure memorable.

This is our whole year together on the exam. We had a couple minutes while we were standing by for further instruction to snap a photo.

Friday, November 21, 2008

0400: Met at the Gear Shed on campus with our packs. We were told what mountain we were going to be on and that we were to pack as if we were guiding a day hike. So we all had a far amount of gear within our groups and we kind of new of the possibility of being out overnight so we packed a little extra warm clothes. Once we met, we were told to form up outside with our packs on. We were then instructed to do 60 jumping-jacks, 30 push-ups, 2 minutes of the plank position and then run two laps around campus, all while wearing our packs.

0445: We left campus in two seperate vans and each went in different directions. The van I was in drove to the base of the mountain and dropped us off on a side road in an open field a little ways from the road that went up the mountain. We were left by ourselves as the van took off. It was so quiet and the sky was completely clear so it was awesome to be out then. We got a call over our radios to go to a specific coordinate and then call in when we got there. The coordinate given was near the top of the mountain by a lake so we headed up the road to a trail that would take us there.

0950: We came to the lake. The second group has not arrived yet so we were instructed to find them and bring them to the lake. We were told the coordinates of where they were dropped off so we just had to find the trail closest to that and hike down calling them on the radio until we came into contact with them. At 1120 we had found them and brought them back to the lake. Then we were instructed to hike up to the summit and wait there for further instructions. Once the instructors arrived up there we got into our four groups and did a first aid senario so that each of us got an opportunity to be a guide. We had to find the injuried person, assess the situation, preform first aid, splint them if needed and create a plan for getting them out of the woods.

1900: We completed the first aid senarios, it was snowing then!, and were told to go a new spot to wait for next instructions. It wasn't until 2000 that they called us and told them to walk down the mountain road until we met them. When we did they basically told us we were finished and could return to the base of the mountain the way we came up.

2030: We had gotten back to the lake when we found a girl who was yelling names and appeared to be lost. A few guys were able to talk to her and found out that she had been hiking up here with two other friends and she could not find them. So we made a plan that each group would search a different trail based on the info she had given us of where their car was and what their experience was. My group headed back down the trail we came up and we would walk a short distance, yell there names and then listen for a few seconds.

2200: We found the two hikers! It was really cool that my group found them because we got to have the most action so it was really fun. The guy hiker, Dave, had fallen off the trail down a steep slope and injured his neck or upper back. Right from when we found them we had to hold his head real still. I did this most of the time while another guy preformed first aid, a girl called the other groups on the radio and two other guys set up a tarp above them and talked to the other girl to try to calm her down, let her know who we were and what we were going to do. We found out that Dave didn't have feelings in his legs and his fingers were kind of tingly. So we made a soft splint for his neck and then packed him with a sleeping bag and our extra clothes to keep him warm. We still had to hold his neck real still just to be sure he didn't move it, so we took turns doing that.

We radioed the other groups to let them know of his condition and injuries and then decided we would need a stretch and ropes to get him out. One group started walking out to find cell phone signal to get a rope team and the ambulance. Then we just had to wait and keep the patients warm and us warm as bet we could. It got really cold and it was hard to get warm again once we got chilled.

0520: Saturday morning: We heard over the radio that the stretcher team was at the lake and would be at us soon. It took about an hour to get Dave onto the stretcher and tied in. We then had to carry him a little ways along the bank, then bellay him up back onto the trail. Then we had to carry him about 1/3 of a mile which took an hour and 15 minutes. We took him back up to the lake because there was a spot there where a helicopter would have been able to get him with a cable.

0810: After we got him to the lake, our instructors told us we could untie him and we sorted all of our gear and packed everything away. We had to then hike back up part of the mountain a ways to the road. At 0900 then we had to sit down on our packs along the road and they handed out written exams to each of us, telling us we had one hour to complete it. It was so rough! It wasn't the hardest exam ever, it was lot of map stuff and basic seach and rescue stuff. It was snowing though as we were sitting there and we were all really cold. After the exam was up our instructors told it that it was finally over, for real this time. 30 1/2 hours later, with no sleep and not much food or water, we were done!

It was really fun to be out there in the woods and doing SAR for real! Everything about it was realistic and we really would have had to wait that long for the stretcher team to come. But then, just as we were headed back to the vans, our instructor goes, "Merry Christmas, these exams don't count!" Reffering to the written exams. They were just to see how much our minds could take after being awake all night.

We got back to campus around lunch time and we all took hot showers, ate a ton of lunch and then slept until it was time to go to church on Sunday.

That was the last of our trips for the semester so now all thats left is book work and time in the library, so I am ready to be home for break. We just have our timed run and swim left too. The run was on Wednesday but I have a pinched nerve in each of my feet so its pretty painful to run, and even walk. So I've been swimming a lot and have taken over 3 minutes off my time since the beginning of the semester which is sweet!

Now it is time to finish a 15 page paper, put together a trip plan and then move into the apartment that my room mate and I will be living in next semester. 12 more days until Vermont!

This is me and Lonnie, another girl in OL who I have become really good friends with. This was on the exam while we were waiting for more instructions.

A Rainy Day in the Woods

Yesterday was just what I needed after being on campus for three or four weeks. We haven't gone on any trips during that time so I have been getting pretty bored on campus and very anxious about going on more trips.

Even though we were only gone for part of the day and it rained pretty steady the entire time, it was really great to go rappelling yesterday with my group. It wasn't that far of a drive from school but we went out to a nice little rocky spot where we set up a few rappel systems and spent lots of time going down them to get really comfortable with it. Even covered in Gore-Tex, we were all pretty wet by one o'clock so we packed up and headed back to town. It was tons of fun even though the rocks were super slick and the ropes weighed a ton because they were soaked with water. Next week, as long as we don't get a ton of rain this week, we get to go do some river opperations which will be cool also.

Too Many Books, Not Enough Time on the Trail

Well, it's only October 20th and I've managed to have two Thanksgiving dinners already! Not a bad way to go. I've been thrown off a bit though because now I feel like I should be getting the Christmas decorations out and starting to listen to Christmas music, but not many other people seem to be in the same spirit as me. I'm a bit out of wack as far as holidays go up here in this foreign country.

We haven't been on any trips since the end of September and I am really starting to feel it. This hanging around campus, which is in the city, just going to class, reading and writing isn't really my thing so I am ready to get back out there, anywhere, sometime soon. Our next trip isn't until the 31st when we get to step up some rope systems and try them out.

I realized too that I did not put up any photos from our sea kayak trip in September so here they are. We were out for four days on the ocean and had the best weather. It was warm and sunny the entire time and the water was very calm. The inlet where we were camping could have been on a lake because the water was like glass. It was sweet!

My cook group. Sean, Adrian, Graeme, John and I.



Home sweet tent.

I also am feeling led to share, that I have already used up most of the money on my food card for the cafeteria. With a pretty regular workout system that we have to do, and overpriced food, I have found myself getting close to the last third of my money. So I just wanted to share that, just to get it out there, and maybe, in case you have a need to get rid of any old food in the pantry, or new food from the bakery... I know a good cause it could go to and someone who would be very thankful to recieve it!

Backpacking Trip

We're all back now from our hike safe and sore. We hiked 57 kilometers, over one mountain range and across a Provincial park. We drove to Cathedral Provincial Park and hiked from Friday morning to Monday afternoon. It was farely warm and nice Friday and Saturday as we were hiking. We could see forever when we got up to above 8,000 feet. Its so awesome being above treeline. It's like a whole different world up there. I was in shortsleeves and shorts but Sunday we woke up and it was snowing and there was a bit of snow on the ground. We hiked up to about 8500 feet in the snow and clouds. It was pretty windy but as long as we kept moving we were fine. I felt like we were in Alaska because the snow was blowing and we couldn't see very far at all. We had to use our compasses and an altimeter to know where to go because there was not a trail and we couldn't see.

Sunday night we camped at around 7,000 feet and the wind never died down so it seemed like we were going to loose our tent a few times. We were able to start a fire which is the only way we were able to stay warm until we could get into our sleeping bags. Amber and I huddled in our tent and I was praying that the tent pegs would hold. We woke up to a little less wind but it was still snowing.

It was a great trip out and again we all wish it could have been longer and didn't mind being away from campus. We're settled into a routine now and life will be a little more college like until next semester. I have Biblical Hermenutics, Ethical Reasoning and Integration of Faith and Outdoor Leadership for regular classes. They are really good classes with a lot of work. So far though it hasn't been overwhelming.

I've been told that it rains here in Abbotsford almost everyday during the winter so hopefully that won't get too depressing. The only thing that I'm really not a big fan of is that I haven't been able to watch any of the Patriots games since the season started. All I can get are the highlights on the internet. So it will be a big party when I can watch one back home.

Until then, it's back to the books and cafeteria food. And anticipation for our next adventure.

Address

Here is my full address.

Emily Adler
box 382A
Columbia Bible College
2940 Clearbrook Road
Abbotsford, BC, Canada V2T 2Z8

Settled in.

I am finally settled in my room for the semester. It is good not to have to live out of boxes anymore. They put me in a dorm room which wasn't what I was expecting but it will work. Its a very small room with lots of girls surrounding me so please pray that I'll get as much sleep as I need throughout the semester!

Amber, my roommate is another girl in the Outdoor Leadership program and we were in the same group on our hike. So it is a blessing to be able to know her and we will have similar scheduals all year which will work well. We both have lots of gear which has been hard to find space for in our little room. And niether of us have, or can afford much for decorations so if you happen to feel the Spirit lead you to send us decorations, we would really love that! I have lots of pictures to hang from back home. So it will work out even if it isn't what I had pictured. Classes start on Wednesday so soon we'll be able to also settle into a routine.

Our next trip is September 11-15 where we're heading north along the coast for a sea kayaking trip.

Amber and I on the coast.

Olympic National Park

Here are a few pictures from my first week at school. Along the northern coast of Washington, in Olympic National Park.

It was a great trip!

Settled in at school.

Here I am, in the south west corner of Canada. It was a super long day of traveling, catching planes, customs and some more driving but I arrived in Abbotsford and slept really well in a quiet hotel room.
Colleen, a good freind from WWC picked me up from the airport and I spent the evening with her Friday and then helped with a pre-reception for her and her fiance who live with his parents here in Abbotsford. It was so great to see her and she was so willing to help me out and deliver me to school on Saturday. Her and Andrew, her fiance, are getting married Saturday in PA and then will be moving back up here until March so I will have a good friend clsoe by! A super blessing!
Our first two days of "school" were classroom work going over many details that we needed for our seven day hike along the coast in Olympia National Park down in Washington. We left here early Tuesday morning and drove down to Oil City, WA, dropped off Bravo group, who would be hiking north, then my group, Alpha, drove north to Ozette where we would start hiking south. It was awesome to hike along the coast adn in the rain forests. All new terrain for me. We had to pay attention to the tides and know when they would be low at certain spots so we could cross. Our last night, low tide was at 1 am so we stayed up, hiked through it and set up camp around 2.30. It's crazy hiking on the beach at night because even though there is nothing around, I still felt pretty clostrophobic.
We had a fair amount of rain but more than half of our hike was gorgeous warm sunshine. About 14 -16 degrees these Canadians were calling it. It averaged out to be about 60 farienheight with warm sunshine so it was perfect. I took a lot of pictures and as soon as I get my lap top from customs, I will post some on here.
I am a lot more settled in now and am thankful that they reschedualed the hike for our first week so I could forget about all the traveling and packing stresses. The rest of the OL group is great and I have become good friends with several of them. It seems like it is going to be a great year. Tough, but great.
I would love your prayers, mostly that I will be able to get back into the school routine quickly and easily but also have plenty of time to sleep so I can really enjoy all of it. Thanks! And thank you also for your prayers for my travels. If it hadn't been for them, and for how I knew God was working everything out, I think I for sure would have chickened out!
Here is my address also:

Emily Adler
Columbia Bible College
2940 Clearbrook Road
Abbotford, BC V2T 2Z8 Canada

I'll keep posting as often as I can and will get some pictures up soon too. Please forward this to anyone else whom you think may like to read it. Thanks!

Going to Canada, eh?

Hey y'all.

I am heading off to school on Friday. I am flying into Vancover and will be getting to school Saturday afternoon. Orientation begins Sunday morning.

I will try to keep you all updated as often as I can through photos and writings on this, and maybe some videos. It looks like I'll be able to travel quite a bit with school this fall so I'm pretty psyched about that.

I hope y'alls summer wraps up well!