Ben Norcia’s Blog (from the journals of the greatest missionary rapper) Ep 3: Man hike and Mt Yonah

Here’s episode 3! I will warn you now it is painfully long and you probably shouldn’t waste your time reading the whole thing. If you do enjoy it enough that you stick with it, I’m very complimented and impressed. I think this blog is a banger though, and it took a while to write so I really hope you enjoy it!

(from journal entry: “A Day of Epic Proportions” 9/16/23)

“Seems like a fitting title for a journal entry for today. Started off simple, no worship (boo).”

I was deeply distraught by the irregular morning.

“Then other than fundraising help and some reading the word nothing really went on until the afternoon. It was MAN HIKE time. Team Banks was flawless today in our performance. We prayed a whole bunch for strength before and boy did we receive it. After about 4 hours and just over 30 minutes we completed our 11 laps. The other three teams all completed 5 or 6 laps each.”

For some reference: the man hike was this team building experience we did for a whole afternoon. To be honest I think it was for the entertainment of the higher ups as it consisted of 11 laps around a 3/4 mile trail through the hills and woods. 8 of the laps one of the 8 teammates had to he carried the whole way (everyone had to be carried once) and the other three laps we, as a team, had to carry a 200 lb tire, a 100 lb tire, and this giant fat log that might have weighed more than my entire family tree combined. We were fortunate enough to avoid any serious casualties with these colossal objects, although one of Banks’s big toes was sacrificed for the cause as when he was carrying the 200 lb tire while blindfolded we may have dropped said tire on him. I have seen the toe since and to avoid revolting my dear readers I will neglect to describe the scene, only that there is a lot of blood and not a lot of toenail at this point. Should probably mention that for each of the 11 laps someone had to be blindfolded and someone had to be crab walking. If you are unfamiliar with the feeling of crab walking over sticks, rocks, gravel, and dirt, I would note that I would personally not recommend it unless you are a macho, active, workout fanatic. In that case I would advise at least wear gloves or something it really stinks.

To better paint the picture of the scene it is worth mentioning that it was pouring rain the whole time. Meanwhile, the girls remained inside to eat ice cream, watch ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and paint each other’s nails. What a cruel world.

“I will be very sore tomorrow.”

I was. Extremely.

“After the treacherous hike and a much needed shower the boys left campus for the first time to buy snacks at Walmart. After that we went to Zaxby’s. First impression: It was some gas. Delicious. All I can really do is thank God right now for such an awesome day.”

Leaving campus for the first time in two weeks I couldn’t help but do the Red pose from the end of Shawshank with my hands in the air. The old lady pulling out of the spot next to us gave me a quizzical look that I interpreted as “what the (insert whatever explicit non-christian word here you like) is wrong with this kid. They say never to shop on an empty stomach and we found out why. Doug bought 70$ worth of snacks to my 22$. One guy spent 140$. Whose idea was it to give teenage boys that had been snack-less for two weeks complete unsupervised access to the glorious haven known as the Walmart food section? Anyways Zaxby’s was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. I scarfed down some wings, chicken tenders, fries, texas toast, and in peak stoic, masculine, post-man-hike form, I added a chocolate chip cookie.

(from journal entry: “Another Excellent Sabbath” 9/17/23)

“It poured rain last night but didn’t start until late so many people were caught off guard. Many tents flooded. Girl village was in shambles, dry real estate was at an all time high demand and the housing market neared collapse. Meanwhile, life was pretty good at the cul de sac.”

For a geographic/political explanation of the housing demographic of the region, understand that girl village is the poverty, down town spot at the flat area after the camp fire. It’s a horrid place to be and the entirety of its inhabitants lay their heads to rest each night praying desperately that someday they will be lucky enough to move to the Beverly Hills of the W squad campsite. Atop the hill, there is a long corridor clear of trees where the men have neatly organized our tents on either side of. The prized real estate of the entire region exists at the end of this street the girls have nicknamed bro-row. The end of “bro-row” is the best piece of land to settle on in all of Georgia. The end of the street is famously known as simply, The Cul De Sac (referred to fondly also as The Sack by those that live there).

“…Skip a bunch of hanging out time, late, around 9ish Doug got the camp fire going and everyone was out there with smores and hot dogs. Banks came down with some friends from his race. Prophet Elijah was even there dispersing wisdom by the fire for me and Sam.”

I’m going the end that entry here because the rest is a recap of random theological talk centered around the questioning of Prophet Elijah. In case you were wondering about the origin of this new, wise, sage-ish character Elijah is a 23 year old (something like that idk) guy who did the world race with Banks last year. He has a masters degree in some theological something or other. Basically, he knows everything but is simultaneously the most humble person i’ve met maybe ever. He’s so sick. He’s here for a few days to hang out and teach us before he’s going around the country to help at churches and disciple people.

*I will now fast forward a few days and tons of information because this was a really great episode and there was loads of things I could have included so I’m focusing on the fun stuff. If you came here seeking any serious stuff wait to read ‘Demons, Dreams, and Yonah’ when it gets released to the public. (it is 17 pages of rambling about a thinking place in the woods, an annoyingly loud bird there, a commentary that reaches no conclusion on whether demons are real or not, an attempted explanation of a dream having to do with my distaste for cats and golf, and the Yonah hike. Yeah other than the Yonah hike none of it makes any sense.)*

(from journal entry: “Demons, Dreams, and Yonah” 9/20/23)

“It was my first hike and I must say my expectations were shattered. The walk up, which I found to be somewhat difficult proved to be an extremely enjoyable exercise. The first mile or so I made with Sam, then the next with Clayton after we stopped to take pictures atop a rock with an unobstructed view outwards while Sam forged on. In case you’re curious where the other Cul de Sac members were, Doug and John T had been the first two on the trail and after speeding up they were not only the first up the mountain, but they had already set their hammocks up in prime locations and collected the wood for that night’s fire before most of the other hikers (myself included) had even reached the summit. Clayton and I joined with Nick F shortly before we rejoined with Sam at the bathrooms about a half mile from the summit. A short walk from the top we discovered a site with large rocks overhanging a cliff. The view was unlike any I’d ever encountered in person. Looking out from the edge one could see for miles in a clear 180* unobstructed view. Peering out over the edge I could see other mountains in every direction, tops of every tree, and dozens or even hundreds of telephone poles stretching out past the horizon and into oblivion. We agreed to return quickly and claim the spot for ourselves if we could not find one better soon and then made the final trek to the top. Arriving there we found a wide open glade, a flat field atop the peak. It was complete with room for more tents than our whole company would ever have needed (even if most of the more excited hikers chose not to use their hammocks for the night as they did). At the edge of the clearing past a few trees we saw where the more experienced hikers were already setting up their hammocks. Doug had long been there so his hammock stretched across the edge of the tree line in a very victorious and triumphant location. Seeing that this location was already mostly colonized and inhabited by a large throng of our companions we snuck off to return to our secluded, quiet cliff’s edge. Our wanderer’s paradise. In complete touristy fashion we shot dozens of pictures of ourselves, the view, the cliffs, each other, and anything else that could showcase God’s creation from our beloved perch.”

We’re going to fast forward skip a little bit of the journal entry as it consists of an increasingly more in depth description of the view and ways we gloated about how awesome the spot only we had discovered was.

“… we we’re unfortunately joined by a few girls who’d hoped to join us.”

We were crushed to be discovered and have the idea that only we could find this place be uprooted by the realization we had hardly strayed from the main trail and anyone who spent a minute exploring would have found us.

“After learning they were sleeping in a tent together and not looking to set up permanent camp on our turf, we were gracious enough allow them to stay and take pictures of us standing at the cliff’s edge, showcasing the cool nature-y aesthetic we were so proud of. Eventually supper time rolled around and our entire company of hiking missionaries gathered together around a campfire to cook hot dogs. After scarfing a few down (I cannot attest for my three companions but in the rush to return to our post before the sun set, my dogs forgot the concept of an “even cook” altogether, leaving me with black, charred tops and lukewarm sides. Still delicious nonetheless) we raced back to our post joined by a few tag-a-longs. One of these tag-a-longs, Ella, brought her camera. All territorial claims vanished and she was invited in to shoot as many pictures (of us, preferably) as she pleased.”

Some of those pictures will be attached below. Shoutout Ella she’s great. (Her instagram is @elladoyon creds to her for all the pictures, much appreciated).

“…As we chatted, laughed, and posted the pictures on instagram the sun slowly dipped behind behind the furthest row of mountains against the horizon, leaving the clear blue sky a stunning array of reds, oranges, yellows, blues, purples, and many other gorgeous colors too specific I don’t know their official names.”

There are two more pages of notes concluding this journal entry but I’ll save you the burden of the poor grammar and lack of focus that is my journaling by summarizing the rest of the passage, as well as the rest of the night. The sun went down and we went back to the campfire for some more hot dogs and marshmallows. I’ll stick this particular snippet in because I find it to be rather amusing.

“I cooked and ate another hot dog (this time a little better but there were no more buns or condiments so I was forced to eat it off the stick I’d just ripped off a tree like a barbarian). I also masterfully cooked two marshmallows to a perfect beige outing, only for the glory of my success to be replaced with disappointment as I found there to be no graham crackers nor chocolate (I was forced to eat my prized, perfectly cooked, golden mallows off my hot dog stick like a savage).”

I concluded the night by engaging in a really great conversation with Clayton and team leader Ally about all sorts of things. Eventually we went back to our hammocks when it got late (we really did have the best spot on the mountain). We would never have peed off the side of the cliff but if we had I would probably say something about it being incredible. After admiring more stars than I’d ever seen before and the view from my hammock which was about ten yards from the cliff for a while I eventually fell into a wonderful mountaintop sleep. What can I say, it was really awesome, I read my bible atop the mountain the next morning under the sunset.

So yeah if you’re here thanks for lying and skipping to the end so you could see the conclusion. Hope you enjoyed reading about episode 3 because I sure loved living through it and writing about it. Peace!