Family Camp

U and Me went to family camp to meet Sarah. We were really excited to see her again!

Sarah and U hug.

Me joins in the hug.

U, Sarah and Me

Me and Sarah

Sarah. The red is red ochre and she did intend for it to look like war paint. She also had stripes of red on her arms.

We sat and talked. Mostly, it was Sarah who talked. She told us about her experience, about some of the TrailWalkers, about the girls in her band, about food, about seeing rattlesnakes (she saw 4 including one that was within one foot!). She then busted a coal to make us lunch. It is quite the process! The socket and bow have to be hard material (Sarah's socket is juniper and her bow is a rib). Sarah likes her fireboard to be softer than her spindle. She's had the most success with a yucca fireboard and a seep willow spindle. Once you get a coal, you have the transfer it to a tinder bundle and blow on it gently until it catches fire. Since it was quite windy, sometimes the coal went out and the whole process started over. When the tinder bundle was on fire, you used it to light the kerosene stove (there was a fire ban starting the week before so no fires--just stoves to cook).

Sarah putting together a tinder bundle.

Working to bust a coal. She was good at it. And the smoke smelled so good.

Making a chimney on her fire board.

Sarah's Shadow, Mary, came by in the afternoon to talk to us. She asked about our biggest awakenings and biggest challenges. It was really good.

Sarah gathering mullein. She learned a lot about plants on the trail.

Sarah making dinner. We had dolmas. She had collected the grape leaves and brought them with her so she could make it for us. It was yummy!

U by the stream the next morning.

It was nice to sit by the stream. And to have a ready source of water. See the island? That is where Sarah gathered mullein the night before.

See Me and Sarah in their sleeping bags? It may have been sunny, but it was still cold!

Sarah in her mummy bag!

The next morning, Quinn, Ellie and Sarah led us on a walk. We were initially going to hike up to some ruins but ended up walking down to the river instead.

We enjoyed sitting by the river. Quinn and her mom Stephanie, Me, Sarah and Ellie.

Quinn, Sarah and Ellie on the way back.

Ellie and Sarah

Lavender, Quinn, Ellie and Sarah. These girls plus Rachel were in Sarah's band for her entire time at Anasazi. (Lavender was not in Rabbit Stick with the others as she started the week before them but joined them after Sarah's first few days.)

Ellie, Liz (Ellie's mom) and Sarah at lunchtime.

Ellie and Sarah

The talking stick of the water band.

Pretty red bird that we saw around our camp.

Ellie and Sarah preparing dinner. It had been really hard for Sarah to bust a coal. She was working hard but one thing after another just kept happening, like a worn our spindle and a broken spindle and rubbing her foot raw with the bow. GhostWalker Leah came over to help. She set up all her stuff and said that if the universe was willing to grant us a coal, we'd get a coal. She started using the bow on the spindle and almost immediately a big coal popped out. She put it in the tinder bundle and we had fire! It was amazing! Leah said she'd never seen anything like that.

Liz, Ellie, Sarah and Me

The next morning, we got up at 4:30 am so that we could be ready to do the DawnStar circle at 5 am. Everyone shared awakenings they'd had. There were 6 YoungWalkers, 2 GhostWalkers plus lots of parents so it took awhile. It was nice to listen to everyone's learnings.

Sarah in her first store in 7 weeks. She was so excited to wander the aisles. She thought she looked like a hobo.

The next day, we met Ellie and Liz for breakfast. Sarah and Ellie shared a shake.

We went to the Anasazi office and looked at the topographical maps. The number locations are the final destinations of the last 4 weeks of camp for the girls. 4 was where family camp was.

We had a cool experience at the office. We saw the mom of a boy who had been in Sarah's rehab program. We found out that he had entered the program that day, although he'd run away from the office. When they brought him back, Sarah was able to talk to him and tell him some about her experience. We saw him get into the suburban to head out onto the trail. We waved and wished him well. His mom texted us that evening, thanking us for reaching out and saying how she thought that it made a difference in her son deciding to go. The timing was definitely not coincidental!