Preparing for a 50 miler backpacking trip starts way before they actually leave. Byron is so great to spend a lot of time with each kid finding out what they want to eat. Then we shop for the lightest foods that we can. Tanner lived off of Ramon noodles and oatmeal. Then at home Byron will weigh every item and make sure there isn't any way to make it lighter. Tanner probably got tired of this part, but knew that he would be carrying this pack for a week so it needed to be as light as possible. I actually think Byron loves doing this. What a great dad to spend so much time with the small details that make a huge difference. He ended up with a backpack with about 35pounds of weight.
Then on June 15th Tanner met up at Brother Wilcox's house. What amazing leaders and dads that sacrificed so much family time, days off and their health for this opportunity for the teachers. Tanner was one of 8 teachers with 4 leaders and dads. The Priests also went, but they didn't do much with them through the whole week. Byron drove our van up to the drop off point. He was able to see Tanner off. We didn't hear from him and know how he was doing until he got home on Saturday around 3 p.m. The 4th day was Tanner's favorite day where they were able to enjoy and not travel at all. They were able to fish, play in the water and just relax with no walking. Kobe, Preston, Zac and Karter were who Tanner hung out with the most. He hiked the most with Preston and Kobe. They hiked about 7-8 miles each day. The second day was the worst for hiking. There was a huge hill they had to go up. He had an awesome time other than being extremely tired, dirty and sleep deprived. Tanner was tent partners with Brett Roberts. The last day Tanner put his wet shoes too close to the fire and the top and shoe laces burned on one. He ended up still wearing them home. Crazy boy! After the hike Brother Wilcox calculated that they did more like 65 miles total.
Before leaving with all of the Teachers and Priests
Jesse Powell, Jerry Slaugh, Preston Morgan, David Wilcox, Sam Wilcox, Austin Clark, Shay Clark, Zach Spier, Karter Northrup, Kobe Mickelson, Tanner, Brett Roberts
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