"Oh wow"

Oh wow!... That was the most common phrase out of my mouth the entire time on the trail. Five days in mid September were spent enjoying the west coast temperate rainforest of Olympic National Park, Washington. My fellow Wilderness Chick extraordinaire Heidi and I were joined by newbie (to our group not the the trail) Leslie - an AT through Hiker, for our fourth major back country expedition. Despite poor Heidi feeling crappy and not being her witty, sweet self, there were many awesome highlights. The first night Leslie went for a walk and thought she heard an elk bugle. Her curiousity led her to a secluded meadow and a whole herd of elk. The next morning we scampered out of our tents to see if the herd was still around. Sure enough, and they were closer too! We counted some 40 odd elk, big daddy's and baby's too. They make the weirdest sounds. The papas barely ate as they kept tabs on their harem and screeched out noises to them, while the ladies would bark if we made too much movement. On day 2 a little black bear must have been training for the annual bear run as he crashed banged down the mountain not 15 feet in front of us. We spotted 2 more bear aways across a beautiful lake. One even entertained us by taking a quick dip in the mountain water! Day 4 after passing that same lake on the way out, we had 9! black bear sightings in a 2-3 hour time span. Leslie was the master at spotting them. We also came across a Marmot clan, including the granddaddy of Marmots who could have cared less about us or the bear. Day 3 we took on a 16 miler, leaving our packs at a gorgeous riverside location and just taking what we needed for the day. We hiked up to Blue Glacier and decided it was worth the up, up, up gaining over 4,000 ft in elevation one way. Conversations with Heidi and Leslie's entertainment were such a blast and a huge priviledge on so many accounts.
Before heading back East I spent a day in Seattle waiting for my flight. I am so happy for the time away, down time to just think & relax on the trail for hours, beautiful scenary beyond words.






Yet, I sure was anxious to go back home too. Life is Good. I missed 6 of my high school soccer girls games (they are kickin some serious booty), there are a lot of great retreats coming up I'm planning at Hebron, I'm getting involved in a new church and its the fall!

On the trail again...

'Tis time once again for Heidi's and my bi-annual wilderness chick adventure! This time around we've decided to journey to Washington's (yes, the state not DC as we east coasters associate with the term) Olympic National Park. Its been a busy summer and autumn and I didn't have much time to plan, dream, drool or think about the trip. So I'm just trusting that once I'm there I'll live it up. Its like the name of my blog, 'Kendra Content'... which actually has double meaning. Yes, its content that is in my mind, but more, its learning to be content whatever the situation. To face this day for what ever life throws at me, to be who God wants me to be (and accept that I can not usually attain it save by his grace). I'm going to miss my soccer girls dearly as well as 6 games right smack in the middle of the season. But I'm just a volunteer and what better time to get out than fall... Prayers for safety, thought processing, seeing and knowing God, fun and adventure are much appreciated. Trails, packs, gorp, fires... here we come!

when asked what my favorite part of my role here at hebron is, i usually answer: the variety. This past week I had the priviledge of directing a retreat for senior citizens. Let me tell you, there is a lot of life left to live at 70! I still want to be young, active, adventurous and sweat but I love being friends with seniors. And let me tell ya, being the token granddaughter is not a bad thing either. The grannies tried to hook me up with their grandsons, the grandpas call me sweet and give me hugs, and they love to hear what's on the mind of the young[er]. they themselves are still young at heart though they go for walks instead of runs, watch their grandkids play sports instead of playing themselves and might have to ask you to repeat what you said a few times. Highlights for me of from our week together were hearing the many stories of the speaker, the "adult only" peanut scramble (there were a few elbows, bums high in the air and Loads of laughter as they reverted back to childhood), the Oldywed game and conversations around the table over meals. There was so much wisdom and encouragement to be had among such friends! Wish I were a bit more ambitious to go visit these folks... so if you ever consider visiting the seniors in your life - DO IT! You will be blessed, encouraged and more of a blessing to them than you can imagine.