The Copper Mines

Shawn, me, Denton, the caretaker of camp, and our 24 kids that we taught every day hiked two miles to the Copper Mines. The entrance to the mines has water in it. It's 38 degrees as I mentioned before. It's about 40 feet in before you get out of the water. It's about knee/thigh deep and I remember sounding like a woman in heavy labor as I walked through that water...it was pretty close to unbearable. It was amazing to walk deep into the earth and imagine that men had been in there looking for gold 100 years ago. They found copper, which at the time wasn't worth much. We went as far back as we could go and then turned off all of our flashlights. It was black as black could be. Then we started singing songs to God and it was the most amazing experience I've ever had. I couldn't get through one song without crying...very powerful and gave me a glimpse of what heaven will be like. It was a neat experience and I'm so glad we were able to go. Chad and Lesley watched our kids which was great because in the 6 years that we've been going to camp, this was the first hike we were able to do.

In front of the hole in the ground.

After emerging from the cave...legs frozen and barely able to walk.