Mountains are huge and difficult. They stand in the way of a straight path to the other side.. we can’t even see the other side from where we stand. And in this life on earth, we always have mountains in our hearts that block the straight path to the other side. Mountains that, without a savior, we are helpless to overcome.
by Tessa Bacathe, one and only female participant in the 2015 program
Words cannot describe how relieved I was to see Cassie on July 26th. Wait, actually, yeah, words can.
Now for me, I was going into this little road trip with a series of unfortunate events behind me, including a fresh knee injury and at that point, an unresolved issue with my best friend. So, for several reasons, I was looking forward to seeing Cassie because something about this fast-talking, philosophical human being always seems to brighten up my spirits. So, yes, I REALLY wanted this trip even though things weren’t perfect.
So we drove, the exact mileage I can’t say, blaring full soundtracks ranging from Johnnyswim to Pitch Perfect 2. I had never seen this side of Texas; I had no idea Texas was even capable of having hills. Every so often Cass and I would stick our hands out the window, using the GoPro to record the gorgeous countryside. We eventually made it to the campsite, complete with running water and electricity, which we couldn’t help cackling over since we are used to backcountry camping with no frills. There was only one other time we had been “glamping,” and even then we couldn’t help but make jokes about the luxuries. Regardless, I would take nearby flushing toilets over a tree any day.
Now let the orchestra of complex music play: we organized our campsite, set up the tent, made dinner, and managed to get our fan going (yes, a fan. Because, c’mon, Texas hardly cools down at night). However, none of that went smoothly; Cassie forgot a spatula, the air mattress barely fit in the tent, and it took several attempts to get the electricity going. Still, we ate Cassie’s “hobo food,” we were settled, and then we went for a swim. By this time, Cassie and I (or shall I say Johnny and Joey) had adopted (who knows why) male, New York style, Italian-American personas and befriended a local who found our exaggerated accents intriguing. This, in turn, inspired us to create multiple personalities and use them for the majority of the trip, which, now that I think about it, sounds incredibly unhealthy of us to do.
I had honestly forgotten how brightly the sun appears from inside a tent; we woke up early the next morning. I’d been mentally preparing myself for the long, uphill portion of a bike ride we had planned, but as soon as we finished breakfast, Cassie told me she ultimately decided against it for safety’s sake. We did, however, manage to fill the morning with activity before devouring juicy peaches for lunch and heading to the Longhorn Caverns in time for our tour.
The caverns were something else entirely; I have trekked up to some of the highest points in the U.S., but not once have I actually seen what lies underneath. I have seen lakes wedged between mountains, but I hadn’t seen the effect of whirlpools in Earth’s crust. While seeing stalagmites and stalactites was amazing, I’ve got to say that being in the cool air for a change really made my day (well, until I started feeling sticky from the humidity). I rather enjoyed ducking down and wriggling myself between crevices —but I could’ve done without the occasional slip on the wet cave floor.
After the tour, we went back to Devil’s Waterhole and jumped from the cliff a few times, but mainly watched daring young men and women leap from some of the most questionable places. We relaxed, coasting along the current, and met several other locals and tourists. Soon after, we changed and went out for dinner in town at a lovely Thai restaurant. Great food and lots of sun exposure left Cassie and me in a content mood. Before we went back to our campsite, Cassie had this lovely idea of lighting Chinese flying lanterns to signify a new beginning. They didn’t take off, but I still appreciated the symbolism behind them, LOL. I’m just glad we had enough matches to get them lit.
My content mood only lasted for so long because in the morning I felt like death. I missed having central air conditioning, I wanted caffeine, and I wanted WiFi. I felt so disconnected from the world, I had no signal, and I was exhausted. My body had started protesting but there was no way I wasn’t seeing everything Cassie had planned: Hamilton Pool and Jacob’s Well. Hamilton Pool was nothing what I expected. Then again, I didn’t know what to expect (actually, I didn’t expect a Jello-like creek connecting to the pool). At Jacob’s Well, Cassie took a good minute and thirty seconds to jump into it from the rocks above. I chose not to jump but rather slink into the natural spring. The water was freezing, but it woke me up from my funk.
This trip was coming to a conclusion, and knowing that this was also Cassie’s goodbye trip, it surfaced all sorts of feelings. If it wasn’t for her, I would not have stayed or even joined Veritas at all. I would have never felt so comfortable voicing my questions and opinions about life. I admired her on so many levels; she had sass and compassion and determination and a tasteful sense of humor. I kind of regret crying so much on the trip, but I couldn’t help it —this was the end of an era for me. I hadn’t challenged myself to that degree ever. I started really making decisions regarding family, friends, and school thanks to Veritas. Which by the way, I still continue to do. :)
After arriving home, Cassie helped me gather my things, and then she gave me a very special gift from the program. I fought back even more tears (ugh) and made Cassie promise we would see each other again.
Here’s to the next chapter of our lives!
P.S. Can I give a huge shoutout to Grant, Jashley, their families and the board of directors? Well, I am! I only met you all a few times, but still, so much happiness filled the room when I saw you guys. I felt extremely welcomed. Thanks again for this extraordinary opportunity!
by Cassie Byard, Women’s Director at Veritas Life Adventures
How do you say goodbye and move on from a season that has been so full and good? You honor it with laughter. With tears. With good food and fun. With photographs and long chats. With silence. This is how we (the women) wrapped up our last Veritas venture.
This trip to the hill country of Texas was a meaningful one for both its adventurers, as each of us is moving into different directions on our life journeys. Tessa, this year’s sole female participant in the Veritas program, will be beginning afresh(man ;)) at the University of North Texas this month (with a well-earned, FULL-RIDE SCHOLARSHIP, I might add!) moving on to the exciting world of college life! As for me (Cassie), this month marks the last of my time with Veritas. I’ll be leaving in less than two weeks to return to the mountains of Switzerland for the fall. So, to commemorate our Veritas experiences and make a few last memories for good measure, Tessa and I headed deep into the heart of Texas and explored caverns, waterholes, lakeside cliff edges and natural springs.
With iTunes playlists ready and car packed for two nights of camping in July heat (WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!?!), we hit the road for Inks Lake State Park! Good company makes the time pass so quickly; before we knew it we were setting up camp and making dinner in our “glamping” electric skillet :) —I must say, short-term camping with the opportunity to make fresh food instead of dehydrated meals was a lovely way to end our Veritas saga!
Watching the sun set over the lake was the perfect way to end the day, and once sun was down it was “lights out” for us, too. Though, even with the measures we took to cool down the tent, we still had a restless night of “sleep” due to the fact that it was July. In Texas.
So, how else should we counter the heat than spend as much time as possible in the water? There’s a cove in Inks Lake with a section of craggy cliffs and large boulders called “Devil’s Waterhole.” It’s popular for its straightedge rock face and water level deep enough for some mild cliff jumping. I mean, you had me at “Devil’s Waterhole,” but add the option for cliff jumping and we are IN! And here I must brag on the courageous determination of Miss Tessa Baca. While I stood at the edge of the rocks and deliberated my first jump for more than a minute, Tessa climbed to the top, peered over the edge and took the plunge with no more than a second blink! As she swam over to me after the jump, I remarked on her fearlessness. “No, I was definitely afraid,” she replied, “But this was something I had to do, so I just did it! I knew if I just stood there and thought about it I wouldn’t do it. So I just jumped.” Now THAT is how you face life. It’s not about being fearless; it’s about staring your fear in the face, saying, “You don’t own me, and you can’t hold me back,” and pushing through it! Waytago, Tessa!
After a snack lunch we headed down the road for an extensive tour of Longhorn Cavern, a fascinating underground labyrinth packed with mystery, history and natural A/C! If you’ve never been in a cave, this is a great one to check out!
That evening we strolled down to the lake’s edge as the sun sank toward the horizon and performed a Veritas closing ceremony of sorts. The plan was to light Chinese sky lanterns to commemorate the close of one season and beginning of another, but the wind had another idea. An entire box of matches later, we said goodbye to two drowning sky lanterns that never got to fly. Well, they flew a little bit. Er… maybe they fell. In style. We’ll just say the flight was less like an eagle’s, more like a chicken’s. But we chuckled as we watched our “futures” dashed, drowned and destroyed despite our best intentions. At least we snapped a photo of one in the air before it died! (p.s. we’ll do better with our actual futures ;))
Our trek home the next day required driving further south first, to experience the wonders of Hamilton Pool and Jacob’s Well. Neither of these places can be described in words; they MUST be seen! But even photos don’t fully capture their beauty and marvel, as Tessa would tell you (she cheated and looked up photos before we visited both places and was still blown away -but I’ll let her describe that in an upcoming blog!). So if you haven’t been to either, plan a detour through Dripping Springs and Wimberley next time you’re near Austin. I promise it’s worth it!
In only two and a half days, we experienced the perfect conclusion to each of our Veritas journeys. Throughout this season, we have found friendship and depth, love and acceptance, challenges and encouragement. We have overcome obstacles, faced fears and crushed opposition. We have grown, each of us in different ways, but always moving forward. And now we move on to the future, glowing bright and flying high —and the wind will not blow us into the lake and put out our light! :)
Forging Trip : August 5-13, 2014
There are two quotes we share with our Seekers each year that explain succinctly the purpose, drive, and goal of our forging trips. I'd like to share them with you so you can understand the mindset our Seekers held during this trip.
“No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training…what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”-Socrates
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” -God: 2 Timoth y 4:7, Romans 5:5
This trip, more than others, pushed us beyond our physical limits, brought us to God-created and inspired places only our imaginations could conjure, and plunged us deep into the vast waters of God's love for us. We experienced what it means to be men and women of God in an ever emerging spiritual, physical, and nutritional world. Those were the goals of our trip in a nutshell, but I don't believe any words, pictures, or anecdotes can truly convey the magnitude of importance, or change, resulting from this 2014 Forging Trip. But I'll do my best to share our journey with you.
Texans like to say that Texas offers every kind of landscape: prairie, ocean, desert, mountain. Now, I am Texan-born and bred, but California has us beat on diversity of scenery in a single US state. In a distance of less than 200 miles, we experienced rugged mountains speckled with vibrant wildflowers and crystalline lakes, aqua waves crashing into craggy cliffs along the Pacific coast, and enchanting forests lush with ferns and magnificent, towering redwoods. Now, Texas is wonderful, don't get me wrong. But California? Sigh... California is lovely. We spent our last two days driving down the scenic Highway 1 and exploring San Francisco's wharfs, food and sunshine, all while Texas was experiencing 110-degree heat. Sorry to rub that in. :-) But we had our challenges too.
Did you know there are 26 bones in the human foot? When you hike 11 miles in the heat of the day you become very aware of each of the tiny 26.. wait.. did I say 26 bones? Surely I meant a million bones. That's what it feels like after you spend 8 hours traversing down a valley, up a mountain, over a ridge (or five), around a lake (or four), through a thicket, down a mountain and back up a valley... It feels like you have a million tiny, fragile bones in each foot and that you have broken every single one of them. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but really, your feet hurt. A lot.
By day three and mile 30, our five-teen/three-adult group had easily reached a consensus: this was the hardest hike Veritas has ever done. It's not really enough to just tell you how far we walked. It's a matter of how steep these trails dipped and how often they rose up and down. If I tell you we hiked a day without our packs, you'll think we had an easy go of it. When you hike the terrain we hiked, it doesn't matter how much you're not carrying, it is long and hard and tiring.
If something is easy and no one complains, there's no cause for celebration. But when something is as difficult and exhausting as the hike we took our Seekers through, and when those Seekers refuse to give in to the desire to quit or complain, it's time to pop the top and celebrate!! (Or, in this case, drink purified mountain lake water and jump into that lake for a refreshing swim before a celebratory dinner of... lentils. Or something equally exciting! :)) Seriously, though. These Seekers are extraordinary and strong young people in body and spirit. The purpose of this taxing trip to the beautiful state of California, the purpose of hiking miles and miles through mountains and beaches and forests, was to FORGE ahead -on this quest for health and character and finding the One who brings it to all fullness. And that is exactly what we did.
Here are a sampling of images from our trip.
Follow the rest of our photo journey on our Facebook page here.
