Rock On!

Bob is a middle aged man who lives up here in Oregon. He is a husband, father, and delivers phone books for a living. What's so interesting about this seemingly average man? Read on to find out!

With a ready wit, quick sense of humor, booming voice, great stories, hearty laugh, and burly beard it's not hard to imagine that Bob is very easy to get along with. He has the enthusiasm and strength of a 20 year old which is mostly channeled toward his passion to working with youth.

Bob is a Pathfinder leader for his church, but does multiple events for the conference at large every year. These "Pathfinder challenges" that he creates and leads are a kind of fun that Bob takes very seriously.


We're talking about some serious fun!

This year we got to meet this wild outdoorsman and get involved with his church group a bit. We hit it off with him right away finding out that he too graduated from CUC with our same outdoor leadership degree. We went snowshoeing with them a while back, and just last weekend we were invited to join a group of young adults that were headed out to the desert to help him plan out a rock climbing trip. The location was an amazing and unexpected state park called Smith Rock.

We will be taking a group of around 80 teenagers to this same place over Easter weekend. We will be offering a Saturday morning full of activity, following the story found in 1 Samuel 14 of Jonathan and his armor bearer. As we walk through the story we will have a fun variety of stations that will mirror the story while teaching the teens some foundations to rock climbing and teamwork. For example, part of the story talks about how God sent a panic upon the Philistine army and in vast confusion they started killing each other. While we certainly are not going to have these kids killing each other, the activity that will demonstrate confusion will have to do with tying a variety of climbing knots to accomplish a certain goal. No doubt a certain amount of confusion will ensue.

We went through the text and the wilderness path, planning activities as we went. I think all involved felt fairly confident that the real event will be a success.

Sunday came with the promise of some intense climbing. It was intense for me anyway. I think I am more challenged by climbing than most. But fun was had by all. It was hard not to enjoy ourselves being surrounded by the glory of nature.

Smith Rock is a beautiful area on the Oregon high desert plateau. Following the glittering flow of the Crooked River, you can trace this deep river canyon past hiking trails and climbing routes for all abilities. And if the towering basalt cliffs are not spectacular enough for you, glimpses of the snow-peaked Cascade Range are sure to capture your imagination.

Though it was raining by the time we left on Sunday afternoon, I think it is safe to say that a good time was had by all. It's a good thing since we'll all be back there in a couple weeks!