Ft. Myers, FL to Portland, OR

We began our trip at the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers. My excitement was enormous. My thoughts had not left this trip for the past few weeks. My mind was a swirling funnel filled with the thoughts of beautiful places, adventurous times and physically challenging feats. Of course, I had hyped this up to be a lot bigger than it really was. In my mind this was epic...but truthfully it wasn't.

I need to make that clear. I understand that my journeys are no greater than anything anyone else has done. I often find myself shying away from sharing my experiences because I know that everyone has their own phenomenal happenings; however, I find that experiences don't need to be extraordinary to be shared. In fact, we are called to share our lives with one another regardless of how "awesome" we think they are. What I was able to be a part of was great. And I understand that it isn't climbing Mt. Everest or anything like that. The true magnifence of my travels is found in the beauty and magnitude of God my King and seeing more and more of His wondrous creation.

That is really what this is all about. If I am able to share the glory of God through my ordinary experiences, I can count them extraordinary for the sake of Christ.

I began to think through this on the plane. I started to wonder about the WONDER of God. Was what I was about to embark on really that incredible? I felt swallowed up in the largeness of this universe.

I wrote in my journal:
"This trip has already captured my thoughts to the wonder and majesty of creation. Up in the sky right now I am reminded of the great might and power of Yahweh God. As the sun begins to rise and shine through the fluffy clouds in a soft pink tint, I am reminded that God holds this all in His hand, and again I am feeling quite insignificant. This universe is HUGE...yet He took upon flesh and made Himself nothing and dwelt among us. The God who created this vast cosmos chose to take a human body and enter into our tiny world, in one particular place in time and geography. How crazy?! He literally made Himself nothing...
I think it is so awesome how all of creation speaks out toward the beautiful process of renewal and regeneration. Every flower and every sunset is a microcosm of the Lord's hand. It proclaims this process of creation, fall, redemption and points us back to the original perfect creation and the second fulfilling redemptive re-creation.
This trip has me excited for several reasons but there is none greater than the opportunity to be intimately engrossed in nature, a constant daily reminder of the Creator, His vastness, His sovereignty, but also His meekness, humility and simplicity."


Fort Myers, Florida to Portland, Oregon -2590 miles http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=2

the Marvelous Obsession

It is a new summer for me...in fact, this summer is almost over. I look back at this past year since I last wrote in this blog and I have realized that I have had a ton of great experiences and adventures. Unfortunately I didn't keep up with them in this blog; however, that is something that I would like to change.

Over the next few weeks I would like to unfold my certain adventures in brief stories or synopses...they may be creative and capture your interest, or they may be simply boring and dull descriptions of occurrences. Whatever the case, I feel that I would like to share some of this with you as I continue this great adventure of life day by day.

I find that the world revolves around beauty. It is the concrete foundation for which we function; a motivator. It grabs hold of us and takes us through life...

Creation is the pinnacle of beauty, for in creation we not only see and marvel at beauty, but we find purpose for ourselves in the midst of it all. It is in this God-given, Creatively designed and purposed marvelous obsession that we see our Creator glorified in the beauty of creation.

The next few posts I will put up are from a recent backpacking/roadtrip that I have just recently come back from in the Pacific Northwest. In it all I have been blessed to be surrounded by the beauty of God's creation and to soak up His glory in rain and shine. Through these posts I will unfold my understanding of the purpose in beauty and the design for it in our lives; how my experience and encounter with the beauty of creation has brought me along in my walk with the Lord.

There is a reason for this marvelous obsession...it leads us to our Sovereign Lord. If you are open to it, please join me on this journey as I go from the stunning Colombia River Gorge to the gorgeous Oregon Coast to the vast country of Mount St. Helens.

repelling into the PIT

Back in mid-July, Andy (my roommate here at camp) and I had the opportunity to randomly decide to head to Virgin Falls to drop into this cave pit we had discovered a few weeks before. It was quite an adventure.

Check out this video...I know it's long, real long, but it pretty much sums up the whole thing. Some of the video has a banner statement right in the middle of it because I had to convert the files to AVI form in order to edit it all, so I used a free version of an AVS converter and ended up with that random blob in the middle of the video. Sorry if its annoying...



Hope you enjoy!

well...the video didn't upload. It was uploading for about 10 hours and I finally had to call it quits. Sorry, I will try again soon.

3 Days on the AT: Smokey Mountains

For more pictures of my trip check out http://picasaweb.google.com/ben.loho/SmokyMountainExpidition

Well, I had decided to take a solo trip on the Appalachian Trail in Great Smokey Mountain National Park and it was certainly an experience. First of all, I wanted this trip to take me out of my comfort zone and really push me by going alone, something I really don't like, and by going at a pretty strenuous pace of about 15 miles a day. The plan was to be on the trail for 5 days and 4 nights, but that turned into 3 days after a broken toe and sprained ankle. Therefore, one lesson learned can be that are plans are not always God's plans. There was so much more that I learned, things I was able to see in my life as needing change, metaphors that spoke to me as I hiked the trail, backpacking tips, the fact that I way overpacked...

Just like the last AT trip I was on I kept a journal and I will share a few of the many entries I had:

8/3/08 4:30 PM

Well, it took me an hour and a half to get to Mt. Collins, 4 miles from Clingman's Dome. Not even a 1/2 mile into the AT I nailed my little toe on my right foot and I think it's broken. That's gonna be a struggle. Just stopped to eat for a bit. No bears yet. 7 miles left and I will be fighting the daylight.

6:30 PM

2 hours to travel 4.7 miles ain't bad at all. I'm at Newfond Gap right now and the weather is absolutely gorgeous, that's why I'm just hanging around. My toe looks pretty bad right now, oh well.

8:20 PM

I am sitting at a really pretty open area that overloks the southeast side of the Smokeys and Newfound Gap Road. I think that I have decided to set up camp here because some guys that just passed me said that they left Icewater shelter because it was so crowded and my toe is really starting to slow me down. I am probably about a mile away from the shelter now. It's getting pretty chilly out here right now. To be honest, this is a pretty lonely thing to do. That's why all these ideas of "just head back" are swimming around in my mind. But I am here to push myself past all that. And so far, today, I have...one day at a time. The darkness is really starting to kick in now and I am about to sign off so I can set up camp. I need to remember that I made too much rice for dinner...

8/4/08 7:40 AM

Good morning. I have been blessed with another beautiful day. Last night got pretty cold but I was plenty warm inside my bag. I was fortunate enough to wake up in the middle of the night just as an extremely bright shooting star flew over my face. I have learned several things about the Smokeys thus far: 1) the weather is unpredictable and can change very quickly 2) the wildlife here is very real. I have already seen many close signs of bears all over this place. 3) the dew in the early morning is crazy this time of year...everything is soaked. Well, the plan today is to hike to Icewater and fill up on my water supply then continue on to Charlies Bunion which is supposed to be a cool rock formation. After that will be Mt. Sequoyah and Mt. Chapman before the shelter.

12:42 PM

Wow! Its been rough...but these views are what inspire me to keep moving. Charlies Bunion was awesome! Then I passed through this area called Porter's Gap with views all around me of the "Sawteeth". I am now at a lookout called Bradley's view which is this large rock on the side of the trail looking out to the east. It's been a tough time this morning. This is the first time I've taken my pack off today. When doing the mileage per day that I am doing you have to do a lot on the move; eat and drink on the move, plan on the move...I wish you could rest on the move. I've already hiked almost 20 miles in less than 24 hours, its crazy. My mind is stuck in between the feeling of accompishment and the fits of rage against myself for putting me through this. The AT follows the mountain ridge pretty much the whole way and some parts are so narrow that if I stepped to my righ or left I would fall considerably far.

8:45 PM

Well, I made it! I arrived here shortly after 6:00 joining a group of 11 here at the shelter. To get here it took a lot of pushing, a lot of praying, and a lot of resting to keep up my morale. I am learning more and more that this is all mental. There has been much controversy in my head, I've thought a lot about a lot of things. I prayed a little earlier that God would bring me into contact with someone who loved the Lord. And it was crazy when I got into Tricorner shelter I overheard a man talking to a young couple I had met on the trail saying that he was a Presbyterian pastor...then the couple (Danica and Matt) stated that they went to a PCA church and graduated from Indiana Wesleyan. The pastor is hiking with his son for 6 days and they are from Memphis. He actually knows some people from Covenant. Crazy how God answers prayer. Everyone here is real nice: a girl in her late 20s from Seattle, a family of 4 from New Orleans, an old man who has come all the way from Mt. Springer on July 10th. I appreciate this lifestyle, I enjoy being around these people hearing their stories, why they're out here. This whole summer has been like that for me, I knew absolutley no one, and God has opened me up to meeting so many new and amazing people. My toe still hurts and my foot really hurts today...we'll see how tomorrow goes.

8/5/08 2:10 PM

If there is one thing I have learned on this expedition its that perseverance is so intense yet makes such an impact. All day today has been about perseverance, pushing my body and mind to the limit. I have traveled 12 miles today since 8:30 this morning which has been very intense. I had to go back over Mt. Chapman and Mt. Sequoyah and Laurel Top and now am making my way down to 5000 ft. at Newfound Gap compared to starting at 6000 ft. today. Another thing I have realized is how much I miss people in my life and how greatly I will cherish them everytime I see them. My goal is to get to Newfound Gap by 4:30 so that I can find a ride up to the Dome to get my car.

4:56 PM

I got a ride! I'm in a ranger car right now heading up to Clingman's Dome...

8/7/08 1:15 PM

Well, I made it to camp safely the night of the 5th. I was a bum all day yesterday, which was great but it kind of makes me mad I wasted a lot of time. When I got to Newfound Gap, at 4 pm by the way (16 miles in 7 1/2 hours) I didn't write because I had to be alert for a ride up to Clingman's. I talked to a shuttle driver who said that no one shuttles up to the Dome and I should find a park ranger. Since my phone didn't have service I got a hold of a lady who letme borrow her cell phone, which didn't work either. So she told me that she would down to the visitor center and inform them I had a broken toe and needed a ride. 15 minutes later 2 ranger cars came flying into the parking lot with sirens going crazy. As they pulled in I walked up to them and they asked, "Are you the one with the broken leg?" and I said, "actually it's a broken toe, but I do need a ride." It was pretty funny, everyone was wondering what was going on and probably thought I was getting arrested. I did get my ride up to my car though, which was great. I hung out for a bit on the Dome and then headed back....got lost, and then finally made it to camp after midnight. All in all it was a great trip with a lot of experiences and learing opportunities.

thank you all for your prayers...

Ben

this is my life...

Well, things are crazy busy...so much has happened since my AT trip and since the last time I posted. I still want to post on High Adventure Camp, the Spartanburg group, me and Andy's adventure dropping into the cave pit, and our recently finished staff project on campus. Hopefully someday I will get around to it all.

Early tomorrow morning I will be heading to the Smoky Mountain National Park to do some hiking on the AT and connecting trails for 5 days...I will be saying goodbye to civilization and technology which I am kind of excited about. Plus, there is a ton on my mind that this trip will hopefully help settle and clear up. I have never hiked this long by myself and part of me is a bit nervous, yet I think it will be an amazing experience and a good thing to push myself out of my comfort zone mentally and physically.

Hopefully I don't run into any bears...when I get back I hope I havve stories to tell.

woo hoo,
Ben