Journey to Field Camp

The Start of Field Camp
Brandi Lenz & Taylor Hollis
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We packed all our gear, said good bye to our homes, friends, and family and left Columbus, Ohio behind for the majority of our summer.  The first day was spent cramped into a van driving all the way to Hays, Kansas.  The drive was brutally long, but thankfully we are all good friends and had tons of laughs along the way.  We drove through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and more than half of Kansas.  We crossed the Mississippi River and drove for hours through flat farmland.  Getting to the motel late that night came at just the right time.  We were all tired and ready to crash.

The second day we drove all the way to Moab, Utah.  We drove through the rest of Kansas (which looks the same as the first half) and Colorado.  The Rockies were absolutely amazing!!  I have never enjoyed a long drive as much as I did that day.  When we got to our campsite in Moab and saw the beautiful land that we were going to be camping at, I nearly lost my breath.  There are no words to describe how the stars looked at night there.  I had the best sleep that night.  Every time I would wake up in the middle of the night, I would open my eyes to all the stars above me and just stare at them until I peacefully fell back asleep again.  I didn’t think the world could get anymore beautiful than that…until the next day.

IMG_0168The third day we spent the entire time at Arches National Park.  You know all those pictures you see of Arches online?  Well it is 10 times better in person!!  It was magical!  It almost didn’t feel real!  Our first stop was Delicate Arch.  The hike up was more difficult than I thought it would be.  It was probably because we were not used to the altitude changes yet…and the heat.  Delicate Arch was majestic!!  Our second stop was Double Arch where we were able to relax at and eat lunch.  The third stop was Devil’s Garden Trail where our groups split up.  My group did the difficult hike to Double O Arch.  There were moments where I was not sure I was going to make it.  The trail was not marked well and I was scared we would get lost, but we made it!!  It was an amazing hike.  The views were out of this world!  I loved every minute of it!  While we were there we learned how the arches formed.  Salt was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years go when it was unIMG_0184der an ocean.  Over the next few millions of years sediments were deposited on top and form a thick compressed rock bed.  Since the salt was under a lot of pressure, it became unstable and began shifting and moving upwards as domes.  Faults then made the surface more unstable and caused vertical cracks in the rock beds.  Erosion and chemical weathering over time created the amazing structures that we see today.

The fourth day we spent some time in Moab just shopping and then drove to Dead Horse Point.  The views there were incredible!  Afterwards, we made our way to Ephraim, Utah where our new life truly will begin.  We unpacked and went grocery shopping.  So far everything has been going well.  We are so excited and anxious to officially start Field Camp tomorrow!  Wish us luck!

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6 thoughts on “Journey to Field Camp

  1. Awesome pictures! I guess the rolling prairies of my home state aren’t for everyone. Did you at least get to stop in KC for some great BBQ?

    • My sisters live in Kansas City and I get barbecue everytime I visit. It is the best! Unfortunately we did not stop on the way to Utah for any.

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