Backpacking Believers

Goodbye Sierras

We have now crossed the Sierra Nevada and found the desert. The Sierras are absolutely amazing! They tested us a little, but it was worth it. The beauty cannot be completely captured in pictures, because you can't smell and feel the air that surrounds you. We ascended and descended through meadows, across streams and over peaks. We have seen turkey, deer and even a bear among many other small animals. We walked in snow and along the banks of Lake Tahoe. There is no way we could put everything into one post so here are some pictures of our Sierra adventure.

Sierra Nevada Time

We are now in Auburn, CA at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. We have been walking through the Delta of California and it was beautiful. There was not a hill to be found except for the levies we were walking on. We hiked through this flat wetland paradise all the way to Sacramento. Then we picked up a bike trail that took us back and forth across the American River and back into the hills and finally the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. This is very exciting to us as we have never been here and hiking the unknown is always an adventure in itself. We have already seen many species of wildlife that is unfamiliar to us and it looks like we will see much more in the near future. We might get to see a mountain lion or even some bears. We will definitely be challenged like never before physically and mentally as we enter wilderness areas where people will be more scarce. One thing that has surprised us is that we continue to see people even in the wilderness areas, so we hope this will continue with summer starting soon. Remember that is why we chose this trail over all the others, because of the people we get to meet and share the Love of God with them. We would like to encourage all of you to also remember that we are to show love to everyone, no exceptions. So go show love and kindness to someone you wouldn't normally do that to. Lord Bless

Hello California!

We are now well into our 2015 Walk Across America. We are walking west to east this time and headed back to Denver where we left off in November. Today we arrived in Oakland, California after taking a ferry across the bay from San Francisco. This ferry is on the trail if anyone is wondering.☺ We arrived in San Francisco on April 30th and we started walking on May 2nd at Limentour beach at Point Reyes national seashore. We were expecting some hills and not being able to get supplies for a couple of days, but we were not as prepared as we thought we were. The hills were mountains and it took more than a couple of days to get to a resupply place. It just goes to show that no matter how experienced you think you are you can still make bad choices. We are just backpacking this time, no carts so we cannot carry extra anything. Here are some pictures of our first 5 days. We will try and keep the blog up more for everyone who does not have Facebook.

It's time to take a hike

Greetings to all,

Well it is Spring and the weather is wonderful here in Nebraska with the highs in the 60's and 70's. Of course we have hiking on our minds as we prepare for the next part of our Walk in Love Across America. We have been making preparations all winter for this and now it is almost here. We just got back from Denver and Boulder, CO where we became certified in Wilderness First Aid through NOLS (national outdoor leadership school) and the Wilderness Medical Institute. In December we also became Red Cross CPR, First Aid, AED, Lifeguard certified. We hope we never have to use any of this training, but if we do need it we are well prepared. We have been working on the logistics of the walk and deciding what gear will work again and what needs to be replaced. Lord willing we will catch a train for San Francisco on April 28th and we will start on the trail on May 1st. We are going to walk West to East and finish again in Denver, CO. This way we can start a little earlier. This is called a flip-flop in the outdoor world. We are asking once more for your prayers as we continue. Lord Bless

Backpacking Believers

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

Us in the Front Range

Katlyn with our instructors, Jake and Courtney. Thanks for everything.

Let the little Children come unto ME......

Hello Friends, Family, and Fellow Hikers,

Happy New Year! It has been some time since we last posted anything on our adventures or what we have been doing lately. Well, here we go......
We are at Camp Comeca in Cozad, Nebraska for the winter. It seems as though this is where the Lord would have us for now and it seems to be where we were needed most. We have been helping with the retreats, groups, kitchen, life guarding and much more. We just had a blessed New Year here at Camp Comeca. The reason behind the title of this blog is because of ALL the children we just had here at Camp.
We just had a Holiday Camp for children in the surrounding areas that might not have been getting much for the Holiday season. This was a emotional and blessed event to be able to be part of. We had 19 children for 4 days of camp. Most of these wonderful children suffered from behavior issues, emotional needs,broken homes and were on some sort of medications. This is very sad to us to see such gifts from God be in these kinds of situations. The scripture says, Let the little children come unto me.....
Well, these little children came to camp sad, crying , hurting, not trusting anyone, not smiling and needing LOVE, true UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, and that is just what they got from ALL of us here at Camp Comeca.
We began to see tears turn into smiles and fighting turn into laughter and quietness turn into the joys of happy children. We experienced children wanting hugs and love and sibling rivalry turn into sharing and giving. We had devotion everyday and praise and worship times and we all learned to put others before ourselves. We watched as the devotional reading came to life and was being put into action by these little ones. What joy it brought to all of us to see and witness CHRIST's LOVE blossoming in each of these children daily. Through out the week the children would ask questions on the bible and what does humble mean, or what does mercy mean and they would listen. We had many trials and prayed for patience daily but it was all worth it, to see how GOD was moving to melt the hearts of the hurting . We got to to see the scared ones begin to trust and to want love in the return of a hug. This was heartbreaking but touching and the best gift one could ever ask for. What a blessing it was to be part of making a difference in the lives of one of these little children.
We watched children's eyes begin to sparkle when they were in the kitchen making candy for the first time, and when they made pizza for their party or decorated something with their artistic creativity. They saw something they created on their own and it was amazing to see such accomplishment on each of their little faces glowing back at you. We watched as fears fell away as each of them went sledding for their first time down the steep snowy mountain hill and trusting that you to be there to catch them at the bottom. This to me is the true meaning of this season, and that is to show UNCONDITIONAL LOVE to those who need it most. We all could learn a lesson from these children and that is how to truly give love in return and to hug like there is no tomorrow. What a blessing it was to be part of this wonderful gift. Thank you to all of the little children.....
Jesus said, Come unto me..... We should be the example of this for all to see.

God Bless ALL of the little children!!!

In CHRIST LOVE,

Jennifer... GentleFir

The Little Children...