Harrowing Drive in the Mountains

Let me begin by saying we are all alive and well, even our car. Last week we drove up to a church owned Girls Camp in Idaho for a family reunion with Ben's family. We each had a map guiding us to the camp site from Boise. As we set off I punched in the address of the campsite in our GPS navigation system since we weren't sure exactly how to get to Boise. I glanced at the plotted route and thought it was the same as the family maps. It wasn't. When we left Boise and went East instead of North we realized we were going a different direction to the campsite. We thought out Garmin navigation system would pick a route with at least real roads so we followed it anyway. That was our great mistake.

Our navigation system picked the worst, most dangerous route possible to get to this campsite. For 26 miles we drove up and over a mountain, through a valley, and up and over another mountain on washed out rutted roads, covered in large boulders and fallen trees with little more than a hair's breadth between us and the plummet to the valley floor. Talk about exciting. When we realized the road was no good we were on our way up the first mountain with a sheer drop on the left side and no room to turn around. It was too dangerous to back up so we took our only choice, to proceed on.

Here is a rough estimation of the route we took, from Google maps, once we left the actual paved road and followed the 'goat trail' over the mountain. We were supposed to reach the camp from the north west. We arrived from the south east.
Half way through we blew out our left front tire but were on a part that was too narrow for us to change it. For about two miles we drove on the rim of the tire over more rocks and deep ruts. We eventually found a place where we could get the kids out of the car and change the tire. The spare held up really well as did the other three tires. I know the Lord was blessing us so our car made it safely over that road. The whole time we drove we all prayed that we would be safe. Here is a close up of a section of the path (it doesn't qualify as a road) we were on, Summit Flat Road. It is just barely visible between the trees. If in Idaho, never drive on this road unless you have four wheel drive and two feet of clearance under your car.

The most unnerving thing for me to think about now is how close we came to getting lost up there on the mountain. None of the roads were clearly marked and there were several side trails that looked exactly the same as the road we were on. I can't get mapquest or google to plot the route we took or even find the exact road we turned onto from the last paved road. I can find pieces of the route we took but not the entire thing. Whenever we came to a fork in the path we would look at the navigation system (which kept losing satellite reception) and then guess which way we should go. Twice we turned and within seconds we decided to go back and try a different route because it didn't seem right. Given a second chance at this path, I don't think I could find my way out again. I had a feeling we would arrive at the campsite, but I had no idea how and I had no idea which path we should take at junctures that didn't show up on our map. I know the Lord guided us and I can't explain how. Here is a picture of the second time we made a wrong turn. I circled the wrong left turn we took. It led to a grassy path and we just knew it was wrong. I got out and ran back to the path and followed it up a little further and found the right road. This was one of the handful of times an intersection was actually marked. I couldn't tell what road we were going to turn onto, but it clearly labeled the road we were leaving so I felt it had to be the right way.

Looking back at this horrible experience I would never repeat I have come to understand something. The whole time on that path I desperately wanted the Lord to just lift our car and take it back to the road. "Please just send down angels to pick up our car and take us back to our wrong turn." That didn't happen. As I prayed for guidance the correct path was not illuminated for us. But when I prayed that we would arrive safely to the campsite I felt that somehow we would get there. I wouldn't call it a peaceful feeling because I was still terrified, but I just knew we wouldn't be stranded or killed on this adventure. Each time we came to an intersection and had to decide which path to take we chose correctly and if we didn't we rectified the choice within seconds. We didn't hear a voice or see a person leading us, but we were lead and I can't explain how. The car lost a tire, but we made it and with remarkably minor damage to our vehicle.

What is the lesson from this awful experience? God doesn't stop us when we choose to not follow the map. He lets us make our choices. When we turn to him for help after we make bad choices He does not erase those choices and take us back to choose again. Instead, He walks with us through those choices. We may suffer and lose a tire, but in the end we make it. We may not see His presence illuminating the way before us and we may not even feel His presence all the time, but believe me He is always there. I have driven in the dark relying upon the spirit to guide me and it terrified me. I hope to never have to be quite so lost, physically as well as spiritually, again. I was never more relieved than when we saw the sign for our campsite at about 10:30 pm and knew we had reached the end of our adventure. We still had to replace the rim we had cracked in three places and re-align the wheels of our car, but we were safe and with family.