by Chet Manchester
Compassion
Sharing is a way of life in African communities where food, clothing, and housing are often scarce. You don’t keep good to yourself. When a guest or a stranger is hungry, you make room for them at your table. (more…)
July 21 & 28, 2008 Christian Science Sentinel
photo by the Lewis family
The 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail (CDT) is the longest and hardest hiking trail in the United States. From its northern terminus on the Canadian Border in Glacier National Park in Montana, the trail goes south through Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado, before it ends south of Columbus, New Mexico, on the Mexican border.
by Chet Manchester
In African society, people turn to God for everything. For many, there’s nowhere else to turn. Medical science and pharmaceuticals, while gaining more of a foothold in many urban centers, are not yet at the center of thought. (more…)
By John Biggs 
Good heavens. It’s been a wonderful couple of weeks. This weekend I went to Addo Elephant Park near Port Elizabeth, and we must have seen over 100 elephants, along with bushpig, warthog, red hartebeest, and zebra. It was beautiful to see these animals in their natural environment. The bush is very thick here - such a diversity of plant and animal life. It was a great backdrop, to have these images in thought during the drive back to the farm the next day, as we talked about the current (and possible future) state of affairs in South Africa politically, socially, and economically. (more…)
All day long we had been seeing Border Patrol vehicles, National Guard observation posts, discarded migrant water jugs painted black, humanitarian aid stations, and brushed out tracks. We knew the US/Mexican line was getting close, but then dropping down off the Florida Mountains into the Chihuahua desert at dusk yesterday evening we could see the lights of Palomas Mexico twinkling south of us. 
Suddenly the border, and then end of this trip felt so immanent. It was a long, 30+ mile day, and we had time as we walked through the twilight to reflect together on things we’ve loved and the things we’ll miss most about this journey.
I’ll miss the simplicity of days on the trail together, and not having to ask the girls at the end of the day, “how was your day?” because we were together. I’ll miss the distinct feeling of teamwork in the family, working together at accomplishing something of meaning. I’ll miss the connection to the natural world, and being students together with our children of its lessons. I’ll miss the nights on the trail, cooking together, reading aloud around a little fire, sleeping all snuggled up in the tent and knowing the whole family is safe. I’ll also miss being able to answer the questions of those like the cowboy yesterday morning, “hey, what are you all doing?” with “hiking from Canada to Mexico” and hearing him respond “Well da-gum!” (more…)
(from the Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming to Mexico)
The sun is setting across the Florida Mountains, the last small range of peaks between us and the Mexican border just 70 miles south. Today at lunch we shared highlights with each other from this past 3 months of trekking southbound since Canada. Here are a few…
Due to the remoteness of the Continental Divide Trail and the relatively few people that attempt it each year (20-30), we expected to be largely separate from the other CDT hikers. This proved to be the case for the first six weeks or so, until in central Montana when we hit a whole mob of south bound hikers. All of them had really bizarre names, like Princess of Darkness, Skittles, Lovebarge, Pi, and Disco…at that point we found out about “Trail Names.” (more…)
I can’t even describe how ready I was for this…it’s 70 degrees, sunny, and beautiful down here in the Gila Wilderness. We just spent 3 days hiking down the Gila River. We left from the uplands by Snow Lake with the knowledge from other hikers that it was cold down in the canyon with lots of stream crossings and plenteous poison ivy. But we lucked into a balmy spell and the only thing that proved true was the amount of stream crossings which made for cold feet in the early morning.
On our first night in the canyon we decided to put the tarp up like a lean-to so that we could see the stars. Snuggled up together in our bags, watching shooting stars and trying to figure out what the heck it was dad was pointing at as he taught us constellations was good fun. (more…)
Even though Christmas has already passed, imagine you opened your last gift today and you got 3 Months handed to you on a big silver plate, filled with whatever you want. That’s where I am right now. So far on my plate is a big slab of Spain with a mound of new friends to one side, a city at my disposal on the other, and all of it sprinkled with a heavy coating of Spanish speaking. Now I’m in a new country with a ‘different, not weird’ culture, as Quique our director likes to put it. (more…)
After 4 1/2 months with our beloved, comic, trusting and strong friends, - our burros (small donkeys) Wellstone and Pingora, - we were finally forced by snows and slippery trails to send them home to the Ranches and continue south without them. However, we know that they will love the next few months enjoying their shed, and with nothing to do but eat, get fat and soak up some sun.
We miss them so much! For one, they are highly entertaining. One day, after a long, hard walk, we arrived exhausted at our re-supply truck complete with hay and water for the burros. Because they love to roll in sand or dirt – it’s one of their most favorite activities – we let them loose briefly. Upon discovering his freedom, Wellstone took off running down the road with Ping in hot pursuit – both at a fast gallop. Cody took off cross-country hoping to cut them off on the far side of the road’s switch back. She hightailed it for about a mile and it looked close as she closed in on the far side of the road. Although we were all cheering for her, she arrived on the road just as the donkeys went flying by. Knowing we may need a back-up plan, Bobby had also begun chasing them down, and after another mile or so of some good sprinting, was able to catch up with Pingora, whom, we believe was beginning to doubt Wellstone’s reasoning in leaving all their food and water and was slightly slowing. Once Pingora was captured, we were able to use her as “bait” to catch Wellstone as neither of them likes to leave the other. Needless to say, that experience made us a lot more careful about letting them loose. (more…)
