For the past 20 years, over their spring break, we have taken our high school students on a 4 day, 20 to 30 mile backpacking trip in the NC mountains.  If you have ever gone on one of our backpacking trips you may have asked yourself, "How in the world did they dream up this miserable fun?"  In Part 1 of this series, we walk through how this trip began as a divinity school project and what the first few years were like.  Snow, rain, lightening and hail....we had it all and sometimes we have to ask ourselves how we all came back alive!  We cherish and laugh about these early adventures, but they have helped us evolve the trip to where it is today.