LEAD 1986

[Eyesopen]

I kind of feel like Bilboa Baggins, writing about the many adventures of my time in TWI. I have been asked to tell the entire story about my LEAD adventure. But I was asked to start my own thread so I could stop derailing everyone elses. ^_^ ..Hmmmph...so here's my own little thread. Bear with me as I try to remember the details.

So there I was eating my lunch and minding my own business. (Which if you read some of my other posts you know was self preservation.) Anyway Rev. Fart stands up and in his usual gawky scarecrow fashion begins to flap his gums. What is the big announcement of the day? Who's going LEAD of course. He reads the list amongst cheers and clapping. Two names stick out in my mind, mine of course and Carrie Muttendale's. She gives me a smug look from across the room and I glare back. Then I get that reproving "Mind your thoughts" look from the person at the head of my table. All I could think of was "Oh boy here we go another exercise in tolerance. God give me strength." And I really meant it. Carrie and I had known each other since '82. She didn't like me, I'm still not certain why but she always tried to make my life a living hell, especially in the Corps. I just tried to avoid her. Had the little feud between Carrie and I been the only problem on LEAD I would have been much happier. But such was not the case.

Like all of the LEAD groups that had left Emporia that year we came up with a theme song, which still rings in my head today as I write this, thanks to Renee (loved that woman) we used New York, New York and rewrote the words to Tinnie, Tinnie. We got our traveling partners and tried to make a plan of action. My partner was one of the most level headed wonderful men I had ever met, Mich@el Br@nch. He and I didn't have much in common so we didn't even know each other before this and we didn't talk after it was done except for a casual hello now and again. So we... the group leaving...met several times before we departed so that we could check each other to make certain everyone had everything on the list and to learn our song of course. Carrie and her little gaggle of friends liked to make fun of those in the group that didn't have all of the newest, latest and prettiest gear, I was among them. But that didn't bug me much, as I had been out rock climbing and camping before, so I had confidence in my tried and true equipment.

So the day came, we got up early to a crisp, cold, windy, rainy late February morning in Emporia, Kansas. We had enjoyed a hamburger with Rev. Fart the "vegetarian" the night before and having now been fed our breakfast, and with our $10 and dove sticker stuffed securely in our pockets we were taken to the front gate and sent on our way. It didn't take long for the crowd to thin out and disappear. Folks in Emporia were kind of used to this phenomena. They didn't care much for TWI but they found that most of the kids they picked up were pleasant and honest; after all those that didn't mind their "p's and q's" got to walk to Tinne. :P

The trip to Tinnie is kind of a blur, we didn't run into any other pairs but we saw one pair driving by in a Semi truck. We were adamant not to spend the lousy $10 so we were hungry most of the time. We had packed a few snacks but they can't take the place of a real meal, and we were traveling for what seemed like a week. But we managed to make it with a few hours to spare and the $10 bucks in tact. We hadn't eaten a meal since we left Emporia. (I couldn't have been more stupid if I had been on crack! ) It really wasn't that long of a time but with all the walking and the packs we had to carry we were expending a lot of calories. (Ok, I'm done whining, so please do not break out the cheese!)

Anyway we all got there on time. It was a little dicey there for a bit but the last group pulled in just shy of the top of the hour. It always amazed me at how anal they could be about the time factor for arriving too and from LEAD, when so much did not depend on the participant. Believe God my white arse! God had to do back flips to help some of us out! But that comes at the end of the story.

We were all there, so they transported us in two groups up to the Chalet. It was dark out so we didn't really get a good look at it but they took us on a short tour around the inside and told us all about solar power and battery storage, most of the monolog was drown out by the grumbling stomachs. (Apparently we weren't the only ones with $10 left in their pockets). When they were done they took us downstairs and let us eat something, they did not join us as they had eaten already, go figure. We were then shuffled off to bed as we would be going up the mountain right after breakfast. I think that I was asleep before I hit the pillow.

The morning broke clear and warm, this should have clued me right away. It is not customary for it to be so warm in February in the mountains. But I put my trust in the LEAD coordinators and just didn't pay close enough attention. We were told to make certain that we had lots of layers on. (Another clue, and one that tells me that THEY knew) We packed our food and gear and started up the mountain. About halfway up many people were shedding their outer layers as it was getting very warm with the sun beating on us. On one of our many breaks, lots of city folks in my group, the leader at the front started yelling at one of the guys. I couldn't hear what he was saying but it didn't sound good. It got filtered down that everyone needed to shed all of their upper body clothing and show the leaders what kind of T-shirt you had on. I guess the guy that got into trouble was wearing cotton. The rule was you had to have silk t-shirts, because when you sweat in cotton your sweat can freeze against your body hence increasing your chances of getting hypothermia. This is assuming of course that the air temperature is below freezing, which at the time it was not as I said it was very warm. I (stupidly) pointed that out to my "pack" leader, and I refused to remove my clothing on the side of a mountain. Fortunately for me I wasn't the only one that was of this opinion. So they just let it slide with the comment "Well the temperature can drop quickly on the mountain." (Hmmm...another clue?)

I'm gonna stop here and start another post so this one doesn't get too long.

[wrdsandwrks]

Can't wait for the "rest of the story". Nice writing!

[Danny]

Sounds good so far.

Yes it didn't have any thing to do with trusting God.

And it sounds like we will get so more stories of them not listening to God.

[nyunknown]

Eyes I love to hear the rest of the story!

[Eyesopen]

Can't wait for the "rest of the story". Nice writing!

Thanks!

Where was I...Oh yes, so as we continued to hike up the mountain I did advise some folks that once we reached the tree line they would want to redon their shirts and possibly coats as without the sun it would get chilly. A small breeze had come up and it was COLD. This got me to scanning the sky. I saw a whisper of clouds but nothing of any great note, so I dismissed the idea. (Hmmm...not one of my shining moments.)

We continued on and as I predicted upon entering the tree line again people began to scramble for the sweaters and coats that they had packed. Here in the shade of the trees we encountered snow. It was about 6 inches worth and had been there for some time. It was all but melted away where the sun had hit it as it was filtered through the trees. The air was crisp and clean, the birds were singing, the woodland animals were playing and the city folks were jumping at every little noise. It was wonderful!

Soon we came upon the designated camping spot. The group was split into three (I think, I'm pretty sure, anyway). Our group traveled another 100 or so yards further up the mountain. The snow was nearly unbroken between the sites as the tree coverage was very dense. The sites themselves were little more that small clearings (emphasis on "small"). Some of the folks started pitching tents and the rest gathered firewood. The afternoon was on the down side of noon and there was an urgancy in the tone of the Leaders. No-one was allowed to rest for more than a few minutes before they were chided for not working hard enough. She had us gather much more firewood than our little camp would need for a week, at least that is what I was thinking but I was basing my estimations on the weather holding. I mentioned this to our leader (stupidly once again) and her response was to tell me that the firewood needed to be stacked as tall as the main tent and it had to be stacked on a specific side of the tent and under the overhang "so it won't get wet". (Hmmmm...can a clue hit you over the head?)

When darkness finally fell we had collected all of the firewood that she had required of us and presumably the tent setters had done their job just as efficiently. I must stop here and give kudos to our leader. She was a real Beeotch and she wouldn't tell us what she most certainly knew but she made sure that at least in that first night we would be as safe and secure as humanly possible, except for the not knowing part. Oh and the part that maybe we should have waited a day before starting up the mountain to begin with.

Ooops got to go to work for a few minutes. I'll be back.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Eyesopen

[outandabout]

Where's the rest, where's the rest?

[wrdsandwrks]

More, More, We want More!

[Jim]

Sorry to interrupt a great story, but could someone give me clue as to who Rev. Fart really was?

[Listener]

Yeah, I'd like to know too....although I have had a few giggles guessing.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Listener

[Eyesopen]

Where's the rest, where's the rest?

Patience...hehehe

So this first night we started a fire at our camp, in a proper pit of course and we sat down to warm ourselves as once the sun had gone down the temperature dropped. It was after all a mountain and February, it should be cold but to me it just wasn't cold enough, it was just that nagging little wind, which by the way had picked up speed. At the fire, we cooked and ate, we talked and laughed, but then Carrie just had to say some stupid remark about the "Hick limb of Arkansas" (That was the nice part) and I just couldn't hold my tongue. (We both had spiritual partners in Arkansas, I mean where does she get off?) Well I told her where to get off. And then pointed out some of her less "refined" actions at the last limb meeting before the Rock. She was none too pleased. If looks could kill I would have been toast right then and there, and not just her but the majority of the group had that look. There were a few that had that "Now you've done it look." But they were by and large the minority. I was told to go and sit somewhere in the cold and think about what I did, and decide to appologize. As if I were a two year old that had just told her brother that he was ugly. It's not like I lied or anything. Hmmmgh...anyway <_<

I was kind of glad to be away from those hypocrites anyway, and I didn't really care that they were all talking about me behind my back. I took the time to scan the skys. There was a large cloud coming in. Most of the stars had already been blotted out. Let me tell you if you have never seen the sky without the city lights...man what an experience...you can REALLY see the stars, and most of ours that night in Tinnie were gone. It did not look good. So I called it a night. Why bother talking to the leader now? She never listened anyway.

I was awakened at about 1am by the sound of a woman screaming, not your ordinary "oooh that was scary" kind of scream. Oh no this was an "I'm being mutilated in my jammies" kind of scream. It cut through the night like a well honed machete and brought us all up and out of our tents. It was comming from the group just below us. It seemed to go on for a long long while. I could hear her say "Get it off me!" Minutes later we got a report that someone (cant remember who) thought that a bear was sitting on her chest, but it was just the snow had caved in her tent. (Hmmm...ok, did any of us actually notice anything when we piled out of our tents?) The snow was falling in thick blankets, our tents were all evenly caked in the heavy wet stuff. The accumulation was near up to our ankles and as we had stood there waiting to hear what had happened a good half an inch had fallen onto our heads and shoulders. It was really coming down. There was a slight breeze that was blowing the snow at an angle, not a steep one mind you but the firewood was on the other side of that wind with the tent in between, so it stayed nice and dry. (Hmmm...I guess she knew her stuff)

The next morning came cloudy and cold with two feet of snow piled into our little clearing and not much less between the camps the wind had done a fine job of getting under the trees. The snow still fell although lightly and the breeze picked up the loose stuff and flung it in your face. Two other tents had collapsed in the night, one was a complete wreck and unfixable. The others were shored up with long tree limbs. (What did you think that we were going back down the mountain? Oh heck no not us we were Corps, furthermore we were 16th Corps we had something to prove, how could we quite? Really...did we really have a choice? Not if we wanted to be Corps, we didn't. For clarification on my cynicism read the thread "I really hated Corps night") Besides the leaders weren't all too keen on going back down either. They told us "If one goes, we all go". No pressure! It really did not help us to have Carrie along on this trip, I really think that some of this was posturing.

So that first day we repaired tents, collected firewood for the other camps and cleared a lot of snow. The woman that had initially gotten dumped on was developing chest pains. She really had a lot of snow no her. I am thinking that her tent was right under a large set of branches so when it toppled all of that wet snow hit her tent. It took them the better part of an hour to get her out of the thing. The second day they took her back down the mountain, on a makeshift stretcher I think, I never heard about her again, except that she had gone home.

But our fun was just beginning! The second day we all collected our packs and ventured off to climb a mountain. Initially there were several complaints about cold boots and cold toes. We were told to place feet by the fires when we took breaks to warm ouselves and our boots. Also to keep our boots in our tents at night so the body heat could keep them warmer.

That second night after a very nice day of climbing as the weather had cleared and the sun had come out for a few minutes to tease us all. We fixed our dinners and most folks stuck their feet next to the fire because they were cold, myself included. Then off to bed we went. Totally exhaused and quite cold, but for once we were full. (Needless to say I ate quickly and left as soon as I was allowed, the less of Carries snickering and pointing the better. I was considering tossing her off of a rock, not a big one just one that would break her little smirking face. Is that bad....? :P )

The next morning is when things really started to go south. Some peoples boots had warmed up enough to show that they had either leaked or the snow seal had not worked because they were now wet on the inside. I had not applied the snow seal that was recommended by the LEAD list. My father and I had gone to purchase the stuff on the LEAD list. When we got to this item we noticed that it was wax, like the kind you use to polish your boots. Except this stuff was to be applied with a blow dryer (which kind of tree do you plug that into?) and it claimed to do the job with only one application. Well we didn't think too highly of that recommendation so my dad and I slathered my boots with some Goose fat that he had rendered the previous hunting season. And we applied it several times and then tested it under a water faucet until we were certain. My boots weren't pretty and they weren't new, but they saved my feet that winter. My feet stayed dry no matter how much snow or water that I wandered through or how many times I put my boots in front of the fire. I wish that I could say that for many others.

The leaders acted unconcerned about the wet boot problem. This was very disconcerting to me, I knew it was a big problem, but you know what happened the previous times that I had opened my mouth. Isn't it strange that they made such a fuss about the cotton shirts and nothing was done about the wet boots.

The days wore on, each day progressively worse. Each day more and more people limping. The soggy boots, the wet socks, the red feet with white edges and toes, the tears of pain and frustration. And still we wouldn't quit.

Have to do my job again, I'll be back later.

Edited April 16, 2007 by Eyesopen

[Eyesopen]

Sorry to interrupt a great story, but could someone give me clue as to who Rev. Fart really was?

No-one special believe me, substitute the "A" for an "O". I always have called him that. Not because of flaggulance (sp), but because he never said anything worth listening to because of most of what he said just stunk. Told you nothing special.

[Listener]

This is like those cliff-hanger TV series I used to watch when I was a kid!! :huh: uuhhmm....a very, very little kid, that is.

The days wore on, each day progressively worse. Each day more and more people limping. The soggy boots, the wet socks, the red feet with white edges and toes, the tears of pain and frustration. And still we wouldn't quit.

Oh!! The suspense!! The limping!! And the SOGGY BOOTS!!! THE TEARS!!! :o

Whatever will become of the dauntless mountain climbers?!?!?!?!? (cue oohs and ahhs)

(in a deep masculine voice)...Tune in next hour for the next exciting episode of........LEAD!! 1986!!! (in booming voice)

(cue theme song.....cut to commercial!)

:biglaugh: couldn't resist, sorry.

Eyes, you should write books! You're good at this storytelling!! BRAVO!!

:eusa_clap:

[FullCircle]

((an aside, I heard that Carrie was like that and I am glad that you stood up to her. Dealing with family royalty in TWI was such a pain in the foot. My bro is the Rev. so and so and I can treat you like crap because of it. It certainly was a problem the whole ministry over))

I look forward to the rest of your story and I could hug your Dad for making sure your boots were outfitted correctly with the right stuff to keep them waterproofed.

[rhino]

We had heavy snow for two days going up, almost came back. People stayed up at night to keep tents cleared. My twig coord guy had some military experience ... my feet got wet, but I put them by the fire, tried to dry the boots .. he said since toes weren't black they were still OK. Not great though ... were numb for months after that. I slept with the boots in the sleeping bag.

I don't think our snow came down this fast though. I think it was late November, and it warmed up the last couple days, but we got very little climbing in.

OK, back to the "100 Black Toes" story ... does that work? :o

[Listener]

I bet Eyes is typing furiously to continue the story and give us our "fix".

Dang, this is addicting!!

[Eyesopen]

I bet Eyes is typing furiously to continue the story and give us our "fix".

Dang, this is addicting!!

I had to stop laughing first. You're killing me!

I got this horrible mind numbing picture of the lot of us "performing" Tinnie Tinnie on a continuous reel behind the announcer, with the closing line of Same Bat time ...Same Bat channel...Oooops am I dating myself.

Full Circle- You aint a kidding honey, what a Beeotch she was...she just thought that she was all that and a bag of chips too. But I won't get started on her....oooh she just made my blood boil!

I did hug my dad and tell him how much his "old fashioned" ways had saved my little toes.

Ok more story then I got to help my niece move.

[nyunknown]

No no Eye keep going. Believe me I was involved in scientology. I am glad I left. I found out years later that they believed that a lot of problems that the human race was caused by a space alien named xenu 75 million years belived me your story has more believable!

[Suda]

Good account. Looking forward to the next installment.

Suda

[Eyesopen]

Allright sorry about leaving a cliff hanger back there but I lost track of time and really had to do my job so I could go home. This is going to be short cause I have to move my niece.

So time was ticking for our little stalwart group of Corps. The sun came out for more than just a teasing visit by the afternoon of the third day and although the warmth was welcome it meant that the snow was became even more wet as it melted. The third camp site had more problems, they had camped on unstable ground and it was shifting. The tents were flooding and their equipment was getting soaked as well. People trudged along, clothes and sleeping bags were strung up between the trees to drip dry, but the snow from the tops of the trees made the task daunting.

While nearly everyone spent any extra time trying to help those that were injured or soaked. Little Miss Carrie and her cadre were concerned about how they were supposed to take a shower. So several people had to stop what they were doing to collect enough snow to make enough warm water for the three of them to shower. <_< By this time I didn't even try to disguise my disdain.

On day five a friend of mine, I'll just call her "K", started asking people for a sharp knife. Finally she settled on her own and after a short stint of honing it on a wet stone that someone had brought, she sat down on a rock and removed her boot, then her sock. Her big toe was black at the end and it looked "sick". She looked at it for a moment and sighed, resigning herself. No-one spoke to her, she was given a wide birth. She closed her eyes and when she opened them she took the knife and started cutting. She removed a good portion of her big toe while sitting on that rock. Then she bound it with clean bandages, put a clean sock on and put her boot back on, she didn't lace it. Now it was my turn to give wilting looks, me and half a dozen others that just couldn't stand it any more. (You ask me why didn't we just rebel? No-one wanted to be the reason for the failure of all. Remember they said "If one goes we all go")

It was finally determined that after the last rock climb that most did not participate in, they could hardly walk, how could they climb? Anyway it was determined that those that no longer had any dry clothing or sleeping bags and those that had frostbite or were otherwise injured did not have to participate in the solo/duo. They went back down the mountain after breakfast on the sixth day. Some had to be carried, some made makeshift crutches or canes. Over half went down the mountain on that sixth day, including the princess I think she broke a finger nail. (Just kidding, I'm pretty certain that she did as I did not see her again until we reached Emporia.)

Tune in next time for the rest of the story...

[SafariVista]

She closed her eyes and when she opened them she took the knife and started cutting. She removed a good portion of her big toe while sitting on that rock. Then she bound it with clean bandages, put a clean sock on and put her boot back on, she didn't lace it.

Not sure what to think here..... omg!!!!

[Listener]

Oh, my God!! Can we take up a donation to hire a moving company...so you can continue????

I don't know if I can make it thru the night waiting for the conclusion!!

Dear God, help us!!

The waiting!

The waiting!!

The intolerable waiting!!!

:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:

Up Next.....the Adventures of HOPALONG CASSIDY. Stay tuned!!!!

[rhino]

Right Safari ... how can someone be cutting their toe off ... and no one is calling in the reserves ... or 911 ... whatever it is you do in the mountains ... was she a doctor? I guess there is a point where that is right .. but who had that "revelation"? Did the "yes, cut your toe off" rev come after the "big storm get the fluck off the mountain" rev? :blink:

So now we wait till eyes moves her niece .. I hear the last segment is pay per view :)

[Listener]

[excathedra]

WTF ?????????? that is just plain sick, horrible, unbelievable

[Dot Matrix]

Eyes

Hurry up, I can't stand waiting

Who was Carrie? Craig's sister or something?

How is K who cut part of her toe off? I am worried about her....