God Answers Prayers Even in the Most Desperate Times

So Monday morning at 5:00am we headed out to hike 11 miles to Ingomar Lake up Sawtooth Creek. Our plan was to camp at the lake Monday and Tuesday night and come back late Wednesday or early Thursday afternoon. We got a good start. Sawtooth trail was better maintained then we thought it would be. We made fairly good time considering we were carrying 40 lb backpacks. By the time we crossed the third creek crossing it was nearing 3:00. We took a break and pushed on the the spot another mile and a half or so up where we cut off trail crossed the creek and begun the several hour ascent up to what we thought was going to be Ingomar Lake. The downfall was worse than we thought. It took us awhile trying lots of different paths over the rough terrain, all the downed trees, rocks and bushes. Some places it was impossible to get through especially with our heavy packs that we had to move towards and alternate route. Josh was worried about getting too far right and missing the lake, I was worried about going too far left and running into dead fall that would be impossible to get through. We were pushing it to get to the top by dark. As we neared the top we realized we were not where we thought we were. Looking at the map we realized we were actually on the left side of the lake with a cliff in between us. We decided that the best thing would be to set up a makeshift camp where we were kind of at the top of the really steep stuff at a kind of flat area. We started a fire and set up our sleeping bags. We figured we'd stay the night there and in the morning we would head down around the west cliff and find the lake. That was about 7:45pm and it was completely dark by then. My stomach had started to hurt and I thought it was probably because I hadn't eaten enough to compensate for the calories I burned. So I ate some high calorie food and we sat by the fire for awhile, Josh cooked hamburgers and I tried to not focus on the pain. Around 9:30ish I decided I needed to take acetaminophen and try to sleep it off cause it was steadily getting worse. The next few hours I tossed and turned trying to lay in a position where it wouldn't hurt as much. Around 11:00 or 12:00 Josh asked if he should start a fire if maybe it would help if I sat up. I didn't know. He got up and started a fire and I decided I could take more pain killer but by the time he got it out of my pack the pain was so intense I was throwing up and knew it wouldn't help if I couldn't keep it down. Josh really started getting worried then and we sat for a little bit trying to decide whether it was more dangerous to try to head down through all that dead fall in the dark or to stay and do nothing. We decided we needed to try to head down the mountain. I sat by the fire while he packed up. He took some of the heavier items out of my pack and put them in his to make mine lighter. By the time we left camp it was 2:00 in the morning. It was really slow going because I needed to stop every ten feet or so because it hurt so much. I think we made it about 45 minutes before I laid down against a rock and was throwing up again. I told Josh I didn't think I could do this. He was really scared by then I could tell though he was trying to keep his cool. That's when we started playing our options out. Josh could go for search and rescue, but to get a signal to call out would be at least an hour and a half down through the dead fall and eight miles back down the trail. By the time search and rescue would be able to find me up there it might be too late. We had no idea how serious this was. So the decision we made at that point in time was to ditch a bunch of our gear so Josh could take both of our backpacks and see if we could make it down to the trail if I didn't have my pack. Where he could carry me out. We stayed at that place for a little bit while he figured out what we needed to take and what we could leave and I tried to catch my breath from the pain and get a little bit of energy to move. Josh asked me if there was anything I wanted. All I could think of is I wanted the pain to stop and I wanted Ken, I just wanted to feel my dad's arms around me one more time and feel like everything was gonna be okay. Neither of those could he give me though. At that point lying on that rock it hurt so bad and I felt so completely weak that the thought crossed my mind that dying would be okay because I didn't think we were gonna make it back and I just wanted the pain to stop. I asked Josh to give me my Bible which held a picture of Gavin I put in there the day before we left. I held it against me and thought about my family at home. At that moment I felt so overwhelmed with the power of their love for me that I knew we had to get out. We pushed on towards the cliff to the east knowing that if he needed to go out for help it would be easier to find me again if I was near there. We got into a rock field and went a little while across that. It was raining and it made the rocks slippery and twice as hard. I sat down on a rock and told Josh that I couldn't go further. We were both just sitting there crying out to God. Asking for His protection and mercy, for the pain to stop and to make it out alive. There was no way I could go farther. It would be hours before we even got down to the trail. The pain eased up a little while I was sitting there so we decided to put our sleeping bags under a tree and try to rest before moving on. I clutched the picture of Gavin close and lay there listening to the rain fall on the tarp over the top of us. I prayed until I fell asleep at some point. When we woke up the pain was gone. We continued down the mountain and had a fire at the trail to dry everything out and then headed the 10 miles out to the truck. When we got in cell service I called home and talked to Dale. Hearing a voice from home gave me the energy to go on the last five miles and I wanted to make sure they weren't worrying too much and knew that we were on our way out. I have never been so happy to see the truck as I was Tuesday night as we got to the trail head and it was turning dusk. We have not found out why I had the pain but I know God has His reasons. He protected us and answered our prayers. It's in times like that, when you are way out in the middle of nowhere, think you might be dying that God can show Himself most powerful. I am continually thankful that He got us out and was blessed to be in the arms of my family last night. Makes me want to never, ever take them for granted. And then while we were sitting around the kitchen table and I was telling them what happened Ken told me what was going on at home while I was out there...

"Monday evening (8 o'clock ish) I began to feel unsettled. Sometime between 9 and 9:30 pm Dale and I heard three loud knocks at the front door. Dale asked if we were expecting anyone. (Which is kind of interesting because it's not odd for somebody to show up at that time) I opened the door but no one was there. At the same time I had a very strong growth feeling that something was wrong and went downstairs and told Elli that we needed to pray. As we prayed the feeling slowly passed." ~Ken         

I was blown away by that. God told Ken to pray. Josh and I were praying. God answered our prayers. I don't know what happened up there or how life-threatening the situation was but I truly believe even more now that God answers prayers and that he provided protection for us. Maybe there is some reason we weren't supposed to get to the lake because before we left there were many people who expressed deep concern to me about us going and that isn't normal when we go out. And then we ended up in the wrong spot. Then when we thought we could get there the next morning I got the stomach pain. That's the only thing that would have kept us from continuing on. Either way. Whatever happened up there I know a couple things for sure. God is deeply involved in our lives. He is almighty and powerful. He cares for His children. And I am deeply loved. I see that now more than ever before. When we pray God works. I am just amazed by his presence and the way he works in our lives. May all glory and honor forever be His and His alone. Thank You God. ~Kriss

I held this picture the whole time. It gave me a reason to keep going.

 

This is what we were hiking in when we left the trail. This is what we were trying to come 

down through at 2:00am in the dark and snowy/rain.