So in early spring of 2009 Jacob came to us to tell us that his friend Keegan was getting together some friends to go camping during the summer in Big Bend National Park. And Jacob wanted our permission to go....wow, we'd been to Big Bend....it's a wonderful place but it's a 11-12 hour drive, and it's isolated and very rugged for camping. So while I'm pondering all the possibilities I hear John say.."Ya Jacob, I think it sounds like a blast and you should diffinitely go!"
What?
The boy is 17....the friends he's going with are only 18.....they'll be driving for 12 hours and plan on hiking and camping....something they all have limited experience with. Shouldn't we think about this a bit? Apparently not.....
And so the plans begin. At first it was a 5 or 6 day trip....over time it became a 2 week trip with a majority of it being in Big Bend and 3 or 4 days in the Fredricksburg/San Antonio area. They had plans to do a 4 day backpacking trip in Big Bend which meant special equipment. Backpacking is rough going there....you need to carry everything you'll need, including all your water. We had some concerns about that beginning with the physical shape of the boys. Jacob is an athlete but even so carrying a backpack, tent, sleeping bag, food and over 30 pounds of water...uphill....would be difficult. And Jacob's friends were not athletes. But we're parents and we don't know anything. So we voiced our concerns, helped to get them the right equipment and good information and then prayed.
So finally it was June and they were off. It ended up being just 3 boys, Jacob, Keegan and Randy. Randy's dad let the boys take his Ford truck....John and I rented a satelite phone for them (so that if they did get into trouble they could call for help) and Keegan's parents paid for nights at the lodge so that they could have a shower and a bed in between the camping.
The day finally came and the boys were off.....they left around 7 am and hoped to arrive before it got dark because the road into the mountains to their start off point is steep and narrow and not something you want to do in the dark, ha! They had reservations at the lodge for the night and planned are checking in with the rangers the next morning before setting off to the back country.
They set off the next morning....uphill with 60 lbs on their backs. They needed a minimum of 1 gallon of water per person per day....and they planned on being out for 4 days.....that's a lot of water, especially on day one. And things did not go well. The first day is mainly uphill and a series of mishaps found them at their campsite for the night exhausted and with a shortage of water for the trip. 
That night Randy went off to used the "outhouse" and met a bear on the way back to the campsite. We discussed with the boys the importance of not panicing.....Randy says that the bear took off running in one direction and Randy took off running in the other.....so much for our talk....he says they both looked over their shoulders at the same time to see what the other was doing....The bear saw that Randy was running...and the bear stopped running....and Randy ran even faster, ha! Once back at the campsite the other two boys were not thrilled to hear there was a bear near by and that Randy had showed it the way to the campsite, ha! Jacob claims he was too tired to worry about it....but the other two boys decided to share one of their one man tents and stayed up all night. Jacob says that the deer walking around the campsite was loud and distracting but he got used to it and just went to sleep. The next morning the boys voted and decided to head back to the lodge....Jacob was not happy. The water was the main problem but neither of the other boys wanted to spend another night in the wilderness. Jacob finally realized that just because you looked like you were in shape didn't mean you were in shape. The hike that took them all day going up took only an hour or two going down. So the boys settled into the lodge for a few nights and did some day hiking, and exploring. Then they moved to several different campsites around the park. Most of the camping is in the dessert...so it's hot. They also ran into rain problems.....all of TX is in a drought but the dessert is getting dumped on....go figure. The water level in the Rio Grande went from 2 ft to 12 ft over night. So after a week or so they were ready to move on to camping in Fredrickburg by "Enchanted Rock"
Overall they had a good time and a lot of laughs....although some of it wasn't funny at the time, ha!
